PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court on Tuesday issued notices to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and three other officers, seeking their response to a petition challenging ‘interference’ in the affairs of KP Revenue Authority (KPRA) by the provincial bureaucracy including the chief secretary.

A bench consisting of Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal directed that the respondents including chief secretary, secretaries of finance and establishment departments and KPRA director general should file their respective comments to the petition jointly filed by eight of the assistant collectors of the authority.

The bench had taken up for preliminary hearing the plea wherein the petitioners including Mohammad Munir and seven others requested the court to declare that KPRA was independent and it didn’t fall under the administrative control of the chief secretary and secretaries of finance and establishment departments.

Petitioners request PHC to prevent ‘interference’ in affairs of the authority

They have sought declaration of the court that filling of the posts of deputy collector and deputy director in KPRA were beyond the jurisdiction of the chief secretary and the two other secretaries.

They also seek directives of the court for KPRA director general not to accept postings/transfers orders of Provincial Management Service (PMS) and other government officers against the said posts in the authority as those were unjust and illegal.

They requested the court to restrain the respondents from treating the said posts, which were promotion posts of the petitioners, as of schedule posts of PMS officers, provided in schedule II of KP PMS Rules, 2007.

Moreover, they also sought directives for the DG to immediately process promotion cases on all seats falling in promotion category of the petitioners as provided under KPRA Employees (Appointment, Posting and Transfer) Regulations, 2017.

Advocate Ali Gohar Durrani appeared for the petitioners and contended that KPRA was a provincial tax collecting agency set up under KPRA Act, 2022.

He stated that the authority was an autonomous body with its own defined powers and hierarchical structure, including a director general, management committee and a policy board, having chief minister as its chairperson.

He said that the chief secretary and other departmental authorities didn’t possess the legitimate authority to make decisions regarding the internal affairs of KPRA. Despite this, he stated, the chief secretary repeatedly issued transfer and posting orders for deputy collector and deputy director positions within KPRA, the positions that fell within the promotion line of the petitioners.

He argued that the petitioners met the eligibility criteria for promotion under KPRA’s APT Regulations but had been denied their rightful promotion due to the inaction of the DG in convening a promotion board for the vacant posts.

Mr Durrani stated that the DG had undermined the interests of KPRA employees by prioritising the appointment of PMS officers, who were posted directly by the chief secretary, into promotion seats intended for existing KPRA staff.

He contended that the autonomy of KPRA was ensured through its legislative framework to guarantee independence from bureaucratic interference, enabling efficient decision-making in line with the provisions of KPRA Act, 2022.

However, he stated that finance department considered KPRA as an attached department reporting to secretary finance, while establishment and administration department classified the posts of deputy collector and deputy director under the PMS Rules, 2007.

The petitioners also pointed out that without any requisition by KPRA, the chief secretary directly transferred on deputation an assistant treasurer (BPS-17) of University of Swat, Shahab Khan, to the post of deputy director (BPS-18) of the authority on Dec 1, 2021. They claimed that his deputation period was further extended by two years through a notification on Sep 27, 2024.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2025