On Wednesday, Lahore High Court has thrown out the petition seeking the removal of Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan, saying it was invalid for the hearing, Daily Times reported. Reading out the verdict he had reserved in the case, Justice Muzammal Akhtar Shabbir announced that the appointment of Rao Sardar as the Punjab IGP had been made on merit. Seeking the removal of the IGP, Nauman Amanat, the petitioner, had said that his promotion to grade-22 was done in violation of Article 11 of the Police Order, 2002. He was of the view that only the grade-22 officer could be made the provincial police chief. On the other hand, Assistant Advocate General Barrister Hassan Khalid Ranjha argued that the IGP’s appointment did not violate Article 11 of the Police Order, 2002. “Out of several names sent by the Punjab government to the federal government for its nod, the latter had approved the appointment of Rao Sardar as the Punjab IGP,” he said, and added that the elevation of an officer to grade-22 did not mean that he had been promoted. “In fact it is the government’s discretion to elevate any officer to that grade,” he explained.