ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: A Supreme Court bench, presided over by Chief Justice Irshad Hasan Khan, on Friday decided to hear the appeals of 12 information officers who had been stripped of their promotion by the Federal Service Tribunal.

Earlier, a bench presided over by the CJ had refused to grant leave to appeal and upheld the FST decision.

The CJ, however, changed his mind after some time and revived the dismissed petition for leave to appeal.

Those who would be the beneficiary of the CJ’s suo motu jurisdiction, are, Ashfaq Gondal, B.A. Tabassum, Abdur Rauf Malik, Kamran Ali Khan, Mian Shafiuddin, M. Akram Mashadi, Javed Akthar, Mohammad Sharif, Farzana Qureshi, I.N. Abbasi, Shafique Uzman, and Ahsan Yousaf Khan.

According to a notification issued on Aug 27, 1998, 12 officers were given out of turn promotion on the recommendation of information minister Mushahid Hussain.

The decision was challenged by three officers, who had been superseded, before the FST which set aside the notification stating that the prime minister could not bypass the Central Selection Board.

The SC has accepted the appeals to look into whether the FST was competent to hear appeals and could the prime minister bypass the board.

The bench comprised Chief Justice Irshad Hasan Khan, Justice Chaudhry Mohammad Arif and Justice Qazi Mohammad Farooq.

Deputy Attorney General Sardar Mohammad Aslam appeared on behalf of the federation.