PESHAWAR, Feb 24: More than 250 police officials will be promoted to the next rank after the government's approval of the NWFP Validation of Standing Order Bill 2005, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The NWFP assembly had passed the bill on Jan 17, which was assented to by Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah after two days, and an official notification in this regard was issued in the first week of the current month, the sources said.

The new act would benefit more than 250 police officials who secured top five positions during their trainings at the Police Training College (PTC), Hangu, since July 17, 1987, the sources added.

The former inspector general of police, NWFP, Abbas Khan, had issued a standing order number 11 on July 17, 1987, which had called for extra benefits for those officials who had secured first five positions during their training at the PTC.

The standing order had benefited all the non-gazetted officials who secured first five positions during their training in lower, inter and upper courses at the PTC. The order also recommended grade 'A' for the position-holders in their annual confidential reports (ACRs). But in 1998, one of the police officials approached the Supreme Court against the standing order of the former IGP, challenging its legal status. The complainant pleaded that it was based on injustice.

He pointed out that it would adversely affect those not securing a place among the top five. The Supreme Court in its judgment had termed null and void the standing order and had also cancelled the promotions to next grades of all those officials who had obtained first five positions during the training courses from 1987 to 1998.

The apex court suggested that until the NWFP government made the standing order an act, the validity of the order should be withheld. With this judgment, more than 250 position-holders were reverted one rank. But the NWFP police continued to press the government for tabling a resolution on the issue as it had some positive effect on the performance of the force, the sources said. The NWFP assembly finally approved the standing order on Feb 17 and made it an act to improve the police performance.