Daily Times

KARACHI: The chief provincial law officer for the umpteenth time has requested the Sindh High Court to throw out the constitutional petition against removal of inspector general of Sindh police A.D Khawaja, accusing IG Khawaja along with the federal government to tarnish the reputation of the Sindh government.

While concluding his arguments on the petition, Advocate General Sindh Zameer Ghumro maintained that the petition was not maintainable as it questioned service laws which cannot be challenged in the high court.

He pleaded to the bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, to lift the stay order on removal of IG Khawaja.

However, it sustained its stay order restraining the provincial government from removing the IGP and adjourned the matter till today.

During previous hearing, Ghmuro had argued that IG Khawaja, a junior grade-21 officer in the seniority of the officers of Police Services of Pakistan (PSP), was serving on an own-pay-and-scale basis on grade-22 post of the provincial police chief. He, therefore, was removed to appoint a grade-22 officer on the post in compliance of the apex court orders.

He said that the powers were vested with the provincial government to remove any IGP at any point in time, adding the high court had no jurisdiction to hear the instant matter as it related to terms and conditions of services.

Earlier, the incumbent IGP had submitted an application through his counsel in the court, asking it to allow it to leave the post as he said, “since last six months he has found it increasingly difficult to discharge his duties under the present circumstances.”

He said that he was unable to bring much-needed reforms in the police force or effectively exercise his command over it. “The existing circumstances were not conducive to his doing his job and striving to achieve unfinished goals with regard to police reforms,” he added.

He, therefore, pleaded the judges to remove the injunction while allowing him to approach the federal government to recall his services from the province.

The provincial government had earlier on April 01, 2017, surrendered the service of IG Khawaja to the center and appointed additional IG Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti in his place. However, it had to suffer a setback on 3rd March when the high court suspended its notification restoring Khawaja as IG Sindh and asking the new IG to relinquish the charge.

The court had observed that the IG could be removed only after the cabinet endorses the decision as the apex court had held in its verdict that the provincial governments could exercise their statutory powers conferred on them through cabinet.

Subsequently, the Sindh government summoned a cabinet meeting which endorsed the removal of AD Khawaja and the appointment of additional IG Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti in his place.