ISLAMABAD: A number of officers of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have approached the Supreme Court, seeking a directive to the Establishment Division and the interior ministry for immediate repatriation of officials of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) to their parent department.

In a joint petition, 22 officers serving in the FIA pleaded before the court to allow them to become a party in suo motu proceedings initiated by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on the posting of PSP officers in the investigation agency.

While taking notice of the matter, the chief justice had ordered the court office to issue notices to Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali and FIA Director General Mohammad Amlish to submit a reply.

The suo motu notice was taken on an application by Kamran Ataullah and other FIA officers who said the specialised investigation agency dealing with technical and white collar crime required the services of experienced and trained officers to efficiently handle the cases.

They said transfer of PSP officers to the FIA was causing loss to the career officers of the agency and amounted to denial and disobedience of guidelines given by the Supreme Court in 2011.

In a fresh application, the petitioners said they were career officers of the FIA, appointed on a regular basis through the mode laid down by the law.

The petition contended that the method, qualifications and other conditions for appointments to different posts in the FIA under the Ministry of Interior in exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 3(2) of the Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion & Transfer) Rules, 1973 were laid down in the Jan 2, 2015 Gazette of Pakistan, Extraordinary.

It said the denial of the Supreme Court’s guidelines would seriously affect their and other FIA officers’ career.

The petitioners said the transfer and posting of PSP officers was against the norms of law and principles of natural justice. In case such a practice of transfers from other departments to the FIA to hold certain posts was not halted, it would infringe on the fundamental legal rights of the agency’s officers, they said.

The officials in the FIA were divided into the investigation, legal, forensic and administration groups with a bar on change of cadre and separate seniority lists, the petition said.

The posts of additional director general, director and additional director in each of the groups are promotional slots filled in accordance with the method laid down in the gazette.

These and other posts should be filled by promotion from amongst the FIA officers who met the eligibility criteria in accordance with the procedure, qualifications and other conditions laid down in the gazette and not from other departments, the petition said.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2016