ISLAMABAD: Junior officials from the National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE) promoted themselves several steps above their original grades.

According to documents available with Dawn, four grade 11 NISTE officials promoted themselves to grades 17 and 18, and a grade 16 official who was sacked reinstated himself and converted his post to grade 19.

The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) reverted the officials’ grades and has begun disciplinary proceedings against them. The officials then approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and obtained a stay order against the reversion of their grades.

NISTE Assistant Private Secretary Qazi Shoaib was sacked in 2005 and his appeal was rejected by the concerned federal secretary. However, a charge sheet issued to Mr Shoaib alleged that he reinstated himself through an unauthorised director general and in June 2015 upgraded his post from grade 16 to 19 without the approval of the departmental selection committee.

The documents claimed that grade 11 accountant Ali Mohammad converted his post to a grade 18 accounts officer, while cashier Ziaul Hassan illegally promoted himself to a grade 17 accounts officer. Grade 11 storekeeper Sajjad Shah became a grade 17 store officer, and Irshad Anwar was re-designated from a grade 11 assistant to a grade 17 office superintendent.

After CADD demoted the officials, they filed a petition in the IHC last month. The petitioners’ counsel Ali Murad Baloch adopted before the court that they were employees of the devolved education ministry and were placed under CADD under the 18th Amendment.

He said they were then posted to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, and were not within CADD’s domain. Therefore, he argued, the order for their demotion and the initiation of subsequent proceedings may be set aside.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2017