PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has directed the secretaries of the sports and elementary and secondary education departments to appear before it for responding to a petition against the appointment of an official of the education department as the district sports officer in Bannu.

The order was issued by a bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan after preliminary hearing into the petition of an officer of the sports department, Adil Shah, against his removal as the Bannu district sports officer by the government and the Aug 16 appointment of Noor Rehman of the education department as his successor on deputation.

It fixed Sept 29 for the next hearing into the case. The petitioner requested the court to declare the impugned notification illegal and order its withdrawal.

The respondents in the petition include the provincial government through its chief secretary, the sports secretary, the elementary and secondary education secretary, director general (sports) and Noor Rehman.

Petition challenges sports dept’s move to appoint education official on deputation

Advocate Mukhtar Ahmad Maneri appeared for the petitioner and said that his client was a senior officer of the sports department and had been working for uplifting of sports in district Bannu as district sports officer since 2022.

He said that out of the blue, the sports secretary issued the impugned order through which the respondent (Noor Rehman), a physical education instructor in the elementary and secondary education department, was transferred and posted in place of the petitioner, who was posted as an assistant director at the directorate of sports.

He argued that the impugned order was against the law and rules.

The lawyer contended that there was no provision in service rules of the directorate general of sports as well as absence of any other policy which provided space for deputationists.

He added that in case that respondent continued to occupy that post, it would badly affect the rights of the petitioner in respect of promotion.

Mr Maneri pointed out that recently in a petition in respect of posting and transfer of management and teaching cadres of the education department, the high court had issued a stay order and directed that no person from the teaching cadre should be appointed against the posts of management cadre.

He said that in almost identical petition wherein appointment of an official of Rescue 1122 was appointed on deputation as district sports officer, Haripur, the high court had granted interim relief to the petitioner and suspended the impugned order.

The lawyer also referred to a 2021 decision of the provincial services tribunal to restore an appellant as the district sports officer in Lakki Marwat.

He added that the tribunal also ruled that the order would be applicable to all teachers on deputation in the sports department.

The counsel argued that sports had been important and a petition ofpublic interestsought orders fornot appointing officials from other departments and cadresto the sports department, whichhad suffered setbacks due to the posting of inexperienced deputationists.

He added that in 2019, too, the establishment department issued directives in accordance with a high court judgement for the posting of teachers from the teaching cadre to educational institutions to teach students.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024