ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) may have dismissed the petition of the previous chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), angry at his removal, but the court is taking seriously the complaint of another bureaucrat.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Thursday restrained the government’s high-powered selection board from considering any promotions to Grade 22 till the petition filed by a Grade 21 officer, Mohammad Junaid Qureshi, is finally adjudicated.

Simultaneously, he summoned Secretary Establishment Taimur Azmat to the court on October 11, the next date of hearing of the violation of court orders allegedly by Mr Qureshi, a general manager (GM) in Pakistan Railways.

Justice Siddiqui observed that the secretary and his deputy, respondents in the petition, had been consistently and willfully defying court orders and convened meeting of the promotion board despite the court’s directions not to do so.

While hearing Mr Qureshi’s petition on June 11, the same court had directed the Establishment Division to proceed with the matter of promotion of bureaucrats in BPS-22 strictly in accordance with the guidelines given in the rules.

Abdul Rahim Bhatti, counsel for the petitioner, however, contended before the court that the respondents ignored the rules and willfully did not consider the name of his client, who belongs to Balochistan, for promotion to the next grade.

He said his client was one of the most senior bureaucrats working in Grade 21 but had been kept waiting for promotion when officers much junior were promoted to the point where Mr Qureshi became junior to his once subordinates.

According to the counsel, Mr Qureshi met the condition for promotion to Grade 22; that is the officer must have two years service in BPS-21 along with very good service record and varied experience.

The petitioner despite meeting the required criteria was denied the promotion, he added. According to him, the respondents, despite the court order of June 11 to strictly observe the rules in further promotions, promoted Kamran Ali Qureshi of Pakistan Administrative Service from BPS-21 to BPS-22 whereas his client was the most senior and “a suitable and eligible candidate” for the promotion.

In his petition, the GM Pakistan Railways Junaid Qureshi told the court that he joined civil service in 1977 and was promoted from BPS-17 to BPS-21 in over three decades. He maintained that he was eligible for promotion to BPS-22 but his name was not included in the list of candidates prepared by secretary establishment which denied him his just right of promotion.