ISLAMABAD The recent reshuffle in bureaucracy in which 51 bureaucrats were promoted to grade-22 was challenged in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

A petition filed by Advocate Dr Aslam Khaki on behalf of Member Income Tax (appellate) Tribunal Nazir Ahmed Chaudhry requested the court to declare the promotions as void and order fresh promotions on the basis of merit.

On Sept 4, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani reshuffled almost the entire top brass of bureaucracy, replaced over a dozen federal secretaries and announced changes in several other ministries by promoting 51 civil servants to grade-22.

The federal government through the establishment division and the prime minister are respondents in the petition.

The petitioner, who had passed the CSS examination in 1976 and was promoted to grade-21 in 2006, is still working in the same position.

Nazir Chaudhry requested the court to call the record of the 51 civil servants who had been promoted to grade-22 through the Sept 4 notification and said that bureaucrats who had been ignored and civil society had strongly protested against what he called massive injustice, rather 'corruption'.

He claimed that at least two officers — Agha Sarwar Raza Qazalbash, secretary religious affairs, and Aneesul Hasnain Moosvi, secretary sports and culture — who were junior to him had been promoted to grade-22 in complete disregard of the principle of seniority.

Article 25 of the Constitution, the petition said, ensured equality of  citizens and required the authorities, especially the public authorities dealing with the rights of the people, to make decisions on the pedestal of justice and fairness and not on the basis of contacts.

Similarly, Article 4 of the Constitution provides for application of law to all citizens. It is to be noted that 'contacts' and 'favours' are not laws but impediments to the course of law, the petition deplored.

It said that every authority, including the respondents, was bound to give cogent reasons for the exercise of its prerogative or discretion and that too in the public interest.

The act of promotions ignoring senior civil servants (including the petitioner) by the respondents amounts to their 'condemnation' without allegation or charge-sheet, the petition said.