PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has ordered the one-step upgrade of the posts of public prosecutors and deputy public prosecutors in the province to bring them on par with those in other three provinces.

The orders were issued to the provincial government by a bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Qaisar Rasheed after accepting two petitions filed by deputy public prosecutors Mian Aziz and others, and public prosecutors, including Zaffar Abbas Mirza and others.

The petitioners had challenged the ‘discriminatory policy’ of the provincial government and requested the high court to direct the government to upgrade the post of public prosecutor (PP) from BPS-18 to BPS-19 and that of deputy public prosecutor from BPS-17 to BPS-18.

Abdul Lateef Afridi, Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah and Jehanzeb Mehsud, lawyers for the petitioners, said in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, the posts of PP and DPP fell in BPS-19 and BPS-18 respectively, whereas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the same posts were in BPS-18 and BPS-17, respectively, showing discrimination on part of the government.

Earlier, they pointed out that the provincial government had announced a policy to upgrade the post of assistant public prosecutor from BPS-16 to BPS-17 and that of government pleader from BPS-18 to BPS-19, but the posts of PP and DPP were left out.

The lawyers said last year, the Supreme Court had also decided in a case that same treatment should be meted out to prosecutors in all four provinces and that their perks and privileges should be alike across the country.

They added that despite the order of the apex court, the provincial government hadn’t upgraded the posts in question.

BAIL GRANTED: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench has granted bail to a suspected terrorist, who claims he was kept in illegal confinement for many days before being booked in a concocted case of carrying a pistol and magnetic bomb.

Justice Syed Afsar Shah accepted the bail petition of the suspect, Nauman Saddique, a resident of Hayatabad area in Peshawar, and directed him to furnish two surety bond each valuing Rs200,000.

The counter-terrorism department had charged the petitioner in an FIR registered on Apr 21, 2016, insisting he was driving a motorbike near Hayatabad when stopped by the officials of the department.

It added that during search, a 3kg magnetic bomb and a pistol was recovered from the suspect. The suspect was later charged under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Section 5 of the Explosive Substance Act and Section 11 of the Arms Act.

Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, lawyer for the petitioner, said his client was taken into custody by an intelligence agency on Apr 4, 2016, and since then, he had been missing.

He said his client had gone to clinic of a dentist in Shumali Market of Hayatabad for treatment but before his turn. he was taken away in a vehicle.

The lawyer said the case of the prosecution was baseless as an innocent person had been implicated in a false case.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2016