May 21, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

MUZAFFARABAD, May 20: The appointment of an officer in the Ombudsman office by AJK President Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan without advertising the post has been criticized by a number of people, terming it negation of his repeated avowals to establish the rule of merit.

The officer was appointed as an ad hoc section officer in the Ombudsman office by the president under his discretionary powers last week.

Sources said that the vacant post of the section officer was not advertised although there had been a number of superior judiciary’s decisions that even the ad hoc appointment should not be made without advertising the post.

They claimed that majority of the employees in the Ombudsman office were unaware of the appointment till the officer submitted the joining report, following which she went on leave.

The induction of the appointee, according to the sources, was made while acting on a simple application submitted to the president on May 8.

“The induction is in sheer violation of the judgments of the superior judiciary by a person who cautions the government almost every day to stick to merit and rules,” remarked an unemployed graduate.

However, when contacted by Dawn, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Ombudsman Sardar Said Mohammad Khan, who is also the retired chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court, maintained that it was in president’s discretion to make any ad hoc appointment in Ombudsman office for six months.