LAHORE: The Punjab prosecution department may face another human resource shock as majority of its senior prosecutors are expected to apply for the 158 seats of additional sessions judges announced by the Lahore High Court recently.

Majority prosecutors tend to join the judiciary for better wages and career path which they miss in the prosecution department despite desperate demands.

Over 300 assistant district public prosecutors and deputy district prosecutors had applied for the posts of civil judges announced by the Punjab Public Service Commission early this year. And around 200 of them are expected to be selected.

Another 100 of them were selected as civil judges last year. The department has a total of 900 prosecutors of all ranks.

Official sources said on Sunday that nearly 400 prosecutors fulfilled the criteria for the posts of additional sessions judges. The selection for the slot promises quick promotion to the higher ranks of the judiciary with excellent salaries, perks which they could not expect in the prosecution department.

The BS-20 post of the additional sessions judge is equivalent to rank of a provincial administrative secretary, carrying a monthly salary of Rs125,000.

“We are losing valuable human resource in bulk merely for want of salaries commensurate with the status of the prosecutors, and a clear promotion ladder. The government knows it but is turning a blind eye to the issue that is directly paralyzing its ability to have the outlaws punished by the courts.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2015

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