PESHAWAR: Speakers of the newly-elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani has ordered the antedated promotion of the assembly’s additional secretary, Ghulam Sarwar, in line with the repeated orders of the provincial services tribunal.

The promotion will take effect from Aug 18, 2007.

A notification issued by the assembly’s speaker on Sept 5 said Ghulam Sarwar had been allowed antedated promotion as the additional secretary of the assembly (BPS-19) in light of the services tribunal’s Sept 14, 2017, decision.

The notification was produced before tribunal member Amin Kundi by the additional advocate general, who said the assembly’s speaker had complied with the tribunal’s orders on the matter.

Speaker issues order in line with services tribunal’s directives

While deciding the appeal of Ghulam Sarwar last year, the tribunal had declared illegal the promotion of deputy secretary Nasrullah Khan as the assembly’s additional secretary through a notification on Aug 18, 2007.

The tribunal had also struck down the June 25, 2014, order of the then provincial assembly speaker, Asad Qaiser, through which the review petition of the appellant was dismissed.

The tribunal had ruled that the appellant was promoted as the assembly’s additional secretary (BPS-19) from the date his junior colleague (Nasrullah) was promoted the additional secretary with benefits and consequential benefits.

During the pendency of the appeal, additional secretary Nasrullah Khan was promoted as the secretary. He still holds the post.

About the plea of the appellant Ghulam Sarwar that he may be promoted to the post of the assembly’s secretary, the speaker in the notification states that the matter regarding promotion shall be placed before the earliest available Departmental promotion Committee for considering the suitable/ appropriate candidate in accordance with the law within shortest possible time.

The tribunal had ruled that the criteria of promotion to the higher post of senior additional secretary (BPS-20) and secretary (BPS-21) of the assembly was also based on seniority-cum-fitness as such subsequent promotions if any of the junior colleague of the appellant to the higher post including the post of senior additional secretary or secretary during pendency of the appeal was also set aside as a consequential benefit.

The respondents including the then speaker didn’t implement that judgment for challenging it in the Supreme Court.

The tribunal had ruled that the respondents were bound to implement the judgment until the case was adjudicated by the Supreme Court.

The appellant said he and Nasrullah were both promoted as deputy secretaries (BPS-18) through a notification on Feb 27, 2003, and he was placed senior to the respondent.

He said to fill vacancy of an additional secretary working paper was prepared by Nasrullah in which he had recommended his own promotion in supersession of the appellant despite fact he was not only junior to the appellant but also earned adverse ACR in the year 1997.

The departmental promotion committee had unlawfully and by having been influenced from the said working paper appointed Nasrullah as additional secretary on Aug 18, 2007.

During one of the previous hearings into Ghulam Sarwar’s implementation petition, the tribunal had ordered on Aug 20 that any order of the respondent (Nasrullah) in the capacity of the secretary shall be deemed as illegal.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2018