LAHORE, Aug 6: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to intervene in a matter related to the Punjab Services Tribunal, which had penalized the deputy district education officer, Naheed Nusrat Hashmi, on charges of misappropriation of public funds.

Dismissing a petition for leave to appeal, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar and Justice Syed Tasadaq Husain Jilani observed that the issue did not involve a matter of public importance.

The Khanpur deputy district education officer was involved in a purchase of substandard science equipment for the department in June 1995. The education secretary penalized her by recovering around Rs300,000 and demoting her.

She filed an appeal with the Punjab Service Tribunal which, on February 14, 2003, upheld the penalty to the extent of recovery, but suspended the order of her demotion on grounds that she was appointed by the Punjab Public Service Commission in BPS-17 and the secretary had no powers to demote her. The tribunal changed the penalty to her annual increment being withheld for four years.

The DDEO filed a request for leave to appeal with the Supreme Court. Assistant Advocate-General Raja Abdur Rehman rebutted the plea made by the DDEO that she was being discriminated against, because some other officers of the department who had committed a similar offence were not proceeded against.

Assistant Advocate-General Raja Abdur Rehman submitted to the court that an officer of Bahawalnagar had been forcibly retired and another demoted.