PESHAWAR: Issuing a stay order, the Peshawar High Court has temporarily stopped the police department from promoting officers to the ranks of superintendent of police and deputy superintendent of police and asked the chief secretary and inspector general of police to respond to a petition against out-of-turn promotions in the department.

The directives were issued by a bench consisting of Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Ijaz Anwar Khan during a hearing into the petition filed by 37 police officials, including DSPs and inspectors.

The petitioners requested the court to declare out-of-turn promotion of police officials on one pretext or another illegal and against the judgments of the superior courts.

They also sought the court’s orders for the police department to implement the relevant court judgments in letter and spirit.

Seeks govt response on plea against out-of-turn promotions in department

The petitioners requested the court to suspend decision on pending DSP and SP promotion cases until the petition was disposed of.

Aminur Rehman Yousafzai, lawyer for the petitioners, contended that the IGP had ordered the provision of incentives for members of the police’s training staff in 1987 but that order was struck down by the services tribunal in 1994.

He said the tribunal’s verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court but the appeal was dismissed in 1998.

The lawyer said the police chief issued another ‘standing order’ on Jan 5, 2004, regarding the same incentives and the provincial government gave it the legal cover through the KP Act No IV of 2005.

He said the police department had granted out-of-turn promotions, including that of gallantry and incentives, under that standing order and government’s validation act to numerous police officials.

The lawyer said the Supreme Court had declared all out-of-turn promotions in the police department void in 2017 and directed the relevant quarters to determine the seniority of all police officers, who were given out-of-turn promotions, along with their batch mates.

He said the apex court had ruled that out-of-turn promotions were not only against the Constitution but it violated the injunctions of Islam as well.

The lawyer said the Supreme Court gave another judgment along the same lines in 2018.

He, however, said instead of implementing the court’s judgments, the police department continued with the erroneous practice of out-of-turn promotions.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2020