ISLAMABAD: The Office Management Group (OMG) has demanded that the Establishment Division should not take up promotion cases in the group until the appointments made in it by transfer and lateral entry since 1994 onward is reviewed.

In its representation sent to the division, the group demanded that such appointments since 1994 onwards may be reviewed and the persons so appointed may be repatriated before taking up the promotion cases of the OMG officers.It said the Establishment Division was going to hold a departmental selection board (DSB) on Sept 25 in which besides other groups the promotion cases of OMG would also be taken up.

“It is prayed that the agenda of the DSB regarding consideration of promotion of OMG officers to BPS-19 may kindly be postponed till conclusion of the review of such appointments as made by transfer or by later entry,” read the representation.

It said the agenda of the DPS meeting included consideration of a panel of officers of OMG for promotion.

However, the representation said: “Panel of officers includes those persons who had been illegally indicted in OMG and their appointment needed to be reviewed in the light of judgments of Supreme Court of Pakistan. It is requested that the agenda of the DSB meeting may be amended to exclude the consideration of the OMG officers till the review of appointments made by transfer/lateral entry.”

It said the apex court in its judgment dated March 30, 2017, had directed that the appointments made by transfer in OMG shall be reviewed so that the same were in line with the previous judgments of the court, and all such appointments shall be made through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

It said the court in its judgments in 2013 and 2015 held that appointment by transfer of a non-civil servant or an ex-cadre civil servant against a cadre post was illegal ab initio and the principle of past and closed transaction could not be extended to rights accrued in illegal manner.

The representation said the Supreme Court in judgments in 2015 had also decided that no permanent absorption can be made through appointment by transfer as the same was a tenure posting.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2019