PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central leader and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser on Saturday moved the Peshawar High Court challenging the recent transfers and postings of public sector employees across the province by the caretaker government.

He requested the court to declare illegal the two notifications issued on Feb 16 and Feb 23 for the bureaucratic reshuffle.

In the petition, Mr Qaiser sought orders for the reversal of all transfers and postings by the provincial caretaker government.

He sought an interim relief from the court requesting it to restrain the government from making more postings and transfers until the disposal of the petition.

Asad Qaiser insists govt overstepped powers

The petition was filed through Barrister Gohar Khan and named the provincial government through its chief secretary, the secretary of the establishment department and the Election Commission of Pakistan through its secretary as respondents.

The petitioner contended that by making large-scale transfers and postings, the caretaker government had overstepped the powers assigned to it under the Constitution of Pakistan and the Elections Act, 2017.

He said 48 postings and transfers were made by the provincial government through a notification on Feb 16 and 12 by a notification on Feb 23.

Mr Qaiser said after the change of the federal government in April 2022, there had been a political and economic turmoil.

He said early general elections were not announced for one reason or another, which led to the dissolution of the provincial assembly of Punjab on Jan 14 and that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Jan 18.

The petitioner said in pursuance of Article 24 of the Constitution, a caretaker cabinet was appointed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but till date no date for general elections for the provincial assembly had been announced.

He said as soon as a caretaker cabinet was appointed, the constitutional command was that its mandate was to hold free and fair elections in aid of the ECP.

Mr Qaiser said no caretaker government could make policy decision even in relations to appointments and postings of civil servants.

He said in a judgement, the Supreme Court had ruled: “The mandate of a caretaker government is to hold the mantle in the interregnum when the term of the sitting government has expired and the new government is yet to take charge.

The mandate of a caretaker government is empowered only to carry out day to day affairs of the State with the help of available machinery, resources and manpower. It cannot take policy decisions and permanent measures including recruitment, making appointments, transfers and postings of government servants. It must leave such matters to the elected Government which takes charge as a result of elections/ cabinet.”

The petitioner contended that Section 230(2)(e) and (f) of the Elections Act prohibited a caretaker government from making major appointments of public officials and from transferring any public officials without the approval of the ECP.

Meanwhile, provincial spokesman for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Shaukat Yousafzai on Saturday said his party had reservations about large-scale transfers and postings of administrative officers by the government and thought the former overstepped its mandate by making that move.

He told reporters on the premises of the high court that all decisions of the caretaker chief minister had been made by the ruling alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement in the Governor’s House.

“Some southern districts have been focused for the transfers and postings. The caretaker government is supposed to be neutral while holding free and fair elections but it has become a party,” he said.

The PTI leader said the governor had been violating the Constitution by not announcing election date.

He also criticised Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and said in the past, Mr Fazl used to protest price hike but after his party grabbed key posts of KP governor and ministers, he had vanished from the scene.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023