LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ruled that it cannot entertain any challenge related to terms and conditions of service of a civil servant.

An official of the Punjab excise and taxation department had filed a writ petition requesting the court to transfer an inquiry against him from one district to another.

His counsel argued that the petition was maintainable in the light of bar contained under Article 212 of the Constitution. He said the terms and conditions of a civil servant, as defined under the law in vogue and did not cover the challenge to an administrative or executive action whereby the competent authority refused to transfer the inquiry from one region to the other.

Justice Anwaar Hussain dismissed the petition, saying inquiry proceedings and appointment of inquiry officer is part of the larger ambit of disciplinary proceedings, which clearly falls within the terms and conditions of service.

Remand Extended: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday extended the judicial remand of PML-N MNA Javed Latif in a case of inciting people against the state institutions and directed the police to file its challan (investigation report) without any delay.

The officials brought the MNA to Model Town Courts from jail in an armoured vehicle where workers of PML-N, especially from Latif’s constituency Sheikhupura, were already present to welcome their leader.

Magistrate Ahsan Raza extended the judicial remand of Latif till June 9 and directed the investigating officer to ensure submission of his report by the next hearing.

Asked by the magistrate whether he wanted to say anything, MNA Latif said the ‘factory of issuing certificates of treason or patriotism’ should be closed. He said pointing out mistakes of the state institutions could not be called disloyalty.

In a post-hearing talk with the media, he said an in-house change in the parliament would not end the political turmoil in the country. He said a new general election was the sole solution to the problems faced by the country.

Meanwhile, the legal team of Latif filed his post-arrest bail petition before the sessions court.

The petition said the FIR was baseless and a result of political victimisation. It said police were not competent to take cognisance of the alleged offence mentioned in the FIR.

Township police registered the FIR on complaint of citizen Jameel Saleem under sections 120/120B, 153/153A, 500, 505(i) (B) and 506 of Pakistan Penal Code. The sections deal with the offences of causing incitement against the state institutions including the army and promoting enmity between different groups.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2021