ISLAMABAD, April 26: The Establishment Division has decided to challenge a recent decision of the Islamabad High Court which declared hundreds of promotions of senior civil servants invalid.

“We will definitely go for appeal because we have the option to do so,” ED spokesman and Joint Secretary Aftab Ahmed Jamal told Dawn. He said a legal team was deliberating on the matter.

Another senior official of the ED said: “We have decided to challenge the decision because if implemented it will create chaos in the bureaucracy.”

On March 20, IHC Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui in his judgment on a petition filed by six civil servants rejected the Federal Public Service Commission’s formula for promotion of civil servants (grade 17 and above) and termed promotion of hundreds of civil servants who were superseded in their respective cadre under the same formula ‘illegal’ and directed it to review their promotion or selection.

The FPSC was also asked to reconsider promotion cases which were deferred.

Under the formula of Central Selection Board of the Establishment Division introduced in 2005, 85 out of 100 marks are given on the basis of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) and Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs) while 15 discretionary marks are awarded by the members of the board.

Earlier, all marks were given on the basis of ACRs and PERs.

When contacted, FPSC’s secretary Bilal Anwar said the commission had nothing to do with the promotion formula because it was only an implementing authority.

He, however, agreed that hundreds of officers who had superseded their colleagues might face cancellation of their promotions.

Some of the affected officers had taken the issue to the Federal Services Tribunal and tribunal in a judgment on October 8, 2008, had directed the establishment secretary and FPSC chairman to either lay down an objective criteria on the earlier order of Supreme Court on a petition dated Sept 25, 2006.

The award of 15 marks by CSB resulting into grant of promotion or denial to the same brings noticeable proportion of litigation before the high courts, service tribunals and ultimately the apex court. Incidentally, mechanism in which these marks are awarded and the manner in which this formula is being applied has received displeasure from the superior courts and observations about the same have already been made, through different pronouncements, the high court observed.

“We are of the opinion that the decision with regard to promotion of an officer cannot be left on the discretion of members of the board. There must be some criteria to judge the performance of a candidate because promotion was denied to the officer on the ground that he does not fulfil the criteria. When there are no criteria, then how a person can be denied promotion, therefore, the service tribunal has rightly observed that the board must bring more objectivity in the criteria,” the judgment said.

The verdict said: “Subjective formula being followed is like declaring civil servants as “good guy” and “bad guy” which is in direct violation of Articles 3, 4, 5, 9, 10-A, 14, and 25 of the Constitution.”

The IHC judge had ordered that “Formula of award of 15 marks on the discretion of Central Selection Board is declared as illegal, superficial, unconstitutional, against the dictums of court of apex, non-transparent, result of adamant approach, whimsical, sham, unprecedented, infringement to constitutional guarantees and principles of natural justice, therefore, same is set aside.”

The court directed the Establishment Division to restructure the formula of award of 15 marks in accordance with the guidelines provided therein.

“All the meetings of Central Selection Board are declared as unconstitutional without jurisdiction and unjust which are held to be of no consequence. The authorities concerned are directed to hold de-novo proceedings of the board and on the basis of restructured formula all the superseded and deferred civil servants must be considered again, as their supersession/deferment on the basis of existed formula applied by the board is totally, illegal. However, civil servants who earned the promotion, without superseding other civil servants shall continue to hold their present posts and potions,” the judgment said.