LAHORE: A grade 21 officer of prisons service has impressed on Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi the need to consider him for the IG Prisons slot as he is the senior-most officer among the competitors.

After holding meetings with the Punjab chief secretary and the additional chief secretary (Home), Member Enquiries-IV Mian Farooq Nazir has submitted a detailed representation to the chief minister to seek his intervention for the appointment of the new IG Prisons “in accordance with rules”.

The development has come after the Punjab government issued a notification of retirement of IG Prisons Shahid Saleem Baig, a grade 20 officer. “Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig (BS-20), Inspector General of Prisons Punjab, shall stand retired from government service w.e.f Oct 20, 2022, on attaining the age of superannuation,” reads the notification.

Mr Nazir’s efforts have kicked off a debate on the criteria for the appointment of the provincial prisons chief.

An official said some DIG-rank officers of the prisons department were in the race for becoming the IG Prisons after the notification of Mr Baig’s retirement. He said Punjab Prisons DIG Headquarters Malik Mubashar Ahmad Khan and Sahiwal’s Staff Training College commandant Mian Salik Jalal were prominent among them. Interestingly, he said, Mr Mubashar was at the fourth position in the seniority list and Mr Jalal at third. Another DIG-rank officer, Kokab Nadeem Warraich, was holding second position in the seniority list. He is currently serving as the Chief Minister Inspection Team chairman.

Mian Farooq Nazir claims he is the only prisons service officer who is in BS-21 and is on top of the seniority list. A document says the Punjab budgetary book declares the “IG Prisons Punjab as sanctioned/regular post of BS-21”.

Elaborating on the criteria, it says the IG Prisons Punjab shall be appointed “by promotion on the basis of selection on merit from amongst the Deputy Inspector Generals of Prisons having twenty two years service in (BS-17) and above out of which two years service as DIG (BS-20) on a regular basis”. Similarly, the National Management Course or National Defence Course at the National Defence University, Islamabad, has been declared mandatory for promotion to BS-21.

Currently, the Punjab prisons department houses nine central jails, 27 district jails, a women’s jail and four sub-jails.

The official source said Mr Nazir held meetings with the CS and ACS Home, wherein he presented legal documents to fight his case. He said he was the only eligible candidate to head his prisons department and briefed the officers on the background of his case and also submitted a written application.

He also visited the CM Secretariat where he moved his representation saying that under the rules, he was the only candidate eligible for the post of IG Prisons for being in BS-21.

According to a letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, Mr Nazir said he was promoted to the rank of DIG Prisons (BS-19) on a regular basis in 2006 and continued performing duties accordingly. He said the post (IG) in question was later upgraded to BS-21 in 2010 and the NMC was declared mandatory in the Punjab Prisons Department Service Rules 2010 for promotion as IG Prisons in BS-21.

Thereafter, he said, he was promoted to BS-21, making him eligible for the appointment of IG Prisons after successfully completing six-month training at the NMC in 2010-11.

“Instead of considering his seniority and rank, the then government posted a DIG as IG Prisons Punjab,” he said, adding that he later moved the Lahore High Court against the appointment. Following the court orders, the then government posted him IG Prisons in 2011, he said, adding that he was promoted to the rank of BS-21 on a regular basis in March 2016.

In 2017, he was transferred without any reason/justification from the post of IG Prisons and directed to report to the S&GAD for further order, the letter said. He said it was shocking for him to know that his junior colleague DIG-rank officer Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig was transferred and posted as IG Prisons.

Mr Nazir added that the Punjab government thereafter posted him as Member (Enquiries-IV) on Feb 2, 2018, (a lower grade post to the substantive rank and grade 21). Since then, he said, he had been working despite a well-settled principle laid down by the apex court that the civil posts, in connection with the affairs of the province and/or in connection with the affairs of federal government, could not be allowed to be filled on a temporary basis for a longer period.

He said it’s clear that substantive holder of the post of IG Prisons Punjab in BS-21 on a regular basis was available and there was no logic, reason or justification for posting a junior BS-20 officer as IG Prisions,” reads the letter.

“An appropriate order may kindly be passed for his posting/transfer against his substantive rank and cadre post i.e, the post of Inspector General of Prisons Punjab by observing government’s own made provisions of law, rules and policies in public interest and to meet the ends of justice,” it says.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2022