LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday disposed of a petition challenging appointment of a junior officer the Director General of Public Relations (DGPR) with a direction to the provincial government to strictly observe merit and guidelines set by the superior courts in making such appointments.

Nadeem Naseem and others had challenged the appointment of Shahid Iqbal (BS-18) as DGPR, a BS-20 post. The petitioners’ counsel Sheraz Zaka had argued that a junior officer could not be appointed against a senior grade post.

He said the issue had already been decided by the Supreme Court that out-of-turn promotion was against the principle of good governance and merit. He asked the court to set aside the appointment of a junior officer as the DGPR and order the government to appoint an eligible officer.

A law officer told the court that the government had already removed the respondent from the post and a new incumbent had been appointment. He asked the court to dismiss the petition.

The petitioners’ counsel, however, argued that the new officer was also junior to the post and had been appointed after giving out-of-turn promotion.

At this, Justice Jawad Hassan disposed of the petition and directed the chief secretary to decide the matter within two weeks after examining whether rules had been followed in the appointment of new incumbent. The judge also directed the chief secretary to hear point of view of all stakeholders, including the petitioners.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019