ISLAMABAD: The Central Selected Board (CSB) recently applied a formula for promotions within the top bureaucracy that was set aside by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in June last year, minutes from CSB meetings in December revealed.

On Nov 8, 2016, the Establishment Division gave a written undertaking to the Supreme Court stating that the CSB, in meetings starting from Dec 13, 2016, would not apply the controversial formula that gave five ‘integrity’ marks an overriding effect in the promotions of government officials.

On March 13, the SC also upheld the IHC’s verdict setting aside the formula, which jeopardised promotions the CSB recommended on the basis of this formula.

Subsequent to the CSB’s recommendations for the promotions of 494 officials the prime minister on Feb 25 approved the promotions of 397 officials in grades 20 and 21, but deferred the promotions of 97 officials the board had cleared during its meeting in December.

Formula gives five ‘integrity’ marks overriding effect in promotions of govt officials

According to the minutes of these meetings, held between Dec 13 and Dec 16, 2016, the board deferred 233 cases on technical grounds and 92 for integrity and performance. In addition, 65 officials were superseded for integrity and performance.

The minutes state: “The board was informed that, in the light of Supreme Court’s judgment in CP. No 22/2013 (of Orya Maqbool Jan), the Prime Minister was pleased to approve new Objective Assessment Form for CSB in 2014. The form has focused separately on professional competence and integrity / general reputation. The attribute of integrity / general reputation / perception has been separately given 5 marks with the condition that an officer under consideration getting less than 3 out of 5 marks… may be deferred or superseded by CSB at their discretion.”

In 2015, an IHC single bench deciding petitions filed by 64 civil servants declared an office memorandum dated Feb 10, 2014, giving veto power to the CSB ‘illegal’. A two member bench upheld the setting aside of the memorandum.

Officials who were promoted under the 2014 formula include Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, and they may be reverted to grade 20 in light of the IHC division bench’s verdict after the SC issues a detailed order in the matter.

However, the government and some petitioners have appealed the IHC order in the SC. While the matter was pending in the SC, the bench allowed the government to convene the CSB for hundreds of officials awaiting promotions since 2015 after the Establishment Division’s Nov 8 undertaking that the controversial formula would not be applied.

According to a statement submitted to the SC in November 2016, the Establishment Division gave an undertaking that “the federal government is willing to do away with the overriding effect for said 5 marks for integrity by amending the office memorandum dated February 10, 2014”, and said the next board would examine promotion cases under the amended criteria.

As a result, the CSB was convened in December 2016, and recommended the promotion of 494 officials in grades 20 and 21.

The SC earlier this month upheld the IHC division bench’s verdict, but a detailed order in this regard has not yet been issued.

Subsequently, at least 32 officials who were deferred or superseded challenged the CSB’s recommendations in the IHC, which means the sword is also hanging over the recently promoted officials, since the court has already declared the memorandum and the past promotions illegal.

Sources privy to the development said the SC upheld the IHC’s decision at a time when many federal ministries and government departments had already started adjusting officials affected by the 2015 and 2016 promotion boards, even as the latest SC order overrides these developments.

The CSB applied the aforementioned formula on promotions and purged 390 officials from its list, and the prime minister also did not approve the promotions of another 97 officials.

The prime minister promoted 111 officials who were in the ‘B’ category, and deferred the cases of 17 officials in the ‘A’ category in five cadres: the Police Service of Pakistan, Foreign Service of Pakistan, Pakistan Administrative Service, Inland Revenue Service and Pakistan Custom Service.

According to the February 2014 memorandum, officials from the ‘A’ category deserve top priority in promotions and officials in the ‘B’ category are in second priority.

The prime minister took over two and a half months to examine the CSB’s recommendations.

A summary issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said the CSB considers updated records and variety of experience and gives due consideration to the integrity and performance of the officials.

It also said that after the perusal of CSB meetings’ minutes, the prime minister observed that while the majority of the board’s recommendations appeared to be tenable, “in number of other cases there are conspicuous inconsistencies, deficits and lacunas in the recommendations for promotions made by the board. The more significant of which are (a) a number of officers who in wide public perception and opinion, have patently poor integrity and or very little professional competence have been recommended for promotion; (b) the board has also recommended for promotion quite a few officers despite their adverse reports which the board had itself called for”.

Establishment Secretary Syed Tahir Shahbaz, when contacted on Tuesday, said he did not recall whether the CSB had applied the 2014 office memorandum. “To my knowledge, when the CSB convened its meeting in December 2016, the IHC order was suspended,” he said.

He promised a detailed response on Wednesday, but could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts until this report was filed.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2017