LAHORE: The federal government on Wednesday posted Abdullah Khan Sumbal as the Punjab chief secretary after a delay of over three months when sitting CS Kamran Ali Afzal went on leave.

Since then, the Punjab government has given look-after charge of the top administrative office to Mr Sumbal which was extended thrice. The PTI-PMLQ’s coalition government in Punjab views the development as a “serious move” at this critical juncture. However, it believes that the new chief secretary now commanding all administrative powers would not denotify chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi if the governor asks him to do so since Mr Elahi did not take vote of confidence on the advice of the Punjab governor.

However, sources in the bureaucracy say the chief secretary is bound to do what the law says, regardless how stakeholders interpret the constitutional provisions.

Earlier, the federal government notified the transfer of Kamran Ali Afzal, who is currently on 130-day ex-Pakistan leave, and transferred Abdulah Khan Sumbal from the Chairmanship of Punjab Planning and Development Board and posted him as regular chief secretary.Mr Afzal had earlier this month requested the Establishment Division to grant him 130-day ex-Pakistan leave as he wanted to travel to Australia. Eventually, the federal government accepted his request and assigned Mr Sumbal current charge of the office for three months with effect from Dec 7.

Mr Sumbal’s name was on the three-member panel sent by the PTI-PMLQ government to the federal government for the posting a regular chief secretary.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government transferred finance secretary Dr Wasif Khurshid and posted him as P&D Board chairman in his own pay and scale against a vacant post – after the posting of Mr Sumbal as chief secretary.

Punjab communications and works secretary Mujahid Sherdil has been transferred and posted as finance secretary. The additional charge of the C&W department has been assigned to Punjab housing urban development and public health engineering secretary Ahmed Mustajab Karamat in addition to his own duties till further order.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2022