ISLAMABAD: The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has decided to challenge the Islamabad High Court’s interim order that temporarily halted its fresh recruitment drive, terming the petition filed by a constable as ‘baseless and premature’.
Justice Mohammad Azam Khan had on Friday issued a stay order on the execution of an advertisement for new posts while hearing a miscellaneous petition filed by ANF Constable Mohammad Shafiq Khan.
The court suspended the advertisement until the final decision of the main petition, fixed for hearing on August 22, noting that the interim relief was granted without going into the merits of the case.
Official sources in the ANF told Dawn that the department would file an early hearing petition in the high court to seek fixation of the case, arguing that the stay order was issued “in absentia” without hearing the force’s stance.
“In such cases, the departmental views are sought before giving any decision. Here, the court did not hear us,” a senior ANF official said. The sources said the petitioner’s complaint about not holding departmental promotion committee (DPC) meetings was unfounded, as the ANF had convened three such meetings during September 2024, January 2025, and January 2026.
Another DPC meeting is also in process and will be completed before the finalisation of Recruitment 2026, they added.
“All eligible candidates will be considered for promotion, and the seniority of serving individuals will not be affected,” the official maintained. The ANF also clarified that the ongoing recruitment was not against vacancies reserved for promotees, but against positions that could be filled only through direct enrolment under the rules.
Regarding the petitioner’s objection to the induction of officers on deputation from other institutions, the sources termed it ‘totally prejudiced’. They said all transfers and secondment postings in the ANF were covered by the APT Rules of 2010, promulgated by the Establishment Division, and could only be changed by the Establishment Division or the Cabinet.
The department also took exception to the petitioner directly approaching the court instead of pursuing the case through proper channels, describing it as an attempt to sabotage the ongoing recruitment process.
Constable Shafiq, through his counsel Advocate Mohammad Ali Raza, had contended in his petition that he had been serving in the same post for the last ten years and had received no promotion despite being ranked 232 in the seniority list of 665 constables.
He argued that advertising new direct recruitment without first convening a DPC meeting was illegal and violated ANF Service Rules, while also raising concerns over the induction of officers on deputation.
Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2026
