LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday sought a reply from Muhammad Khan Bhatti over his appointment as principal secretary to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.

Hearing the case, Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir sought a reply from the Punjab chief secretary and the principal secretary till the next hearing on Aug 22.

Advocate Mian Dawood had filed a constitutional petition in the court on behalf of a citizen Akhtar Ali on Friday.

It has been argued in the petition that the appointment of the principal secretary to the chief minister was a violation of the Constitution and the law.

According to law, an officer of one service cadre cannot be posted in another service cadre.

The petitioner also said that two notifications were issued for the appointment of Muhammad Khan Bhatti as Principal Secretary. First, a simple notification of transfer and posting was issued and later, the second notification was about posting on deputation.

Both the notifications were issued before Parvaiz Elahi was sworn in as the chief minister.

The citizen also said that an `uneducated person’ has been appointed as the head of highly educated government officials, requesting the court to nullify the appointment of Muhammad Khan Bhatti.

The official in question is now a grade 22 officer, promoted from clerical ranks by Parvez Elahi over the years since he held positions like local government minister, Punjab Assembly speaker and chief minister during Gen Musharraf rule

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2022