ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued a notice to the federal government on a petition filed by an ambassador and a director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs challenging the appointment of diplomats in alleged violation of policy.

Ambassador Zahid Nasrullah and Director (Public Diplomacy) Majid Khan Lodhy filed the petition through Barrister Zafarullah Khan, which was heard by IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

Mr Khan advanced the preliminary arguments. After a brief hearing, the court issued notices to respondents and adjourned the matter.

The petitioners have challenged various transfers and postings of officers in Pakistani missions abroad, including their own transfers, for violating the Policy of Foreign Posting of Officers.

Ambassador Nasrullah joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1987. He served as Pakistani’s ambassador in Korea and Afghanistan, while Mr Lodhy has been serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the last 13 years.

Petitioners say postings to missions abroad have violated 2015 policy

According to the petition, the ministry has devised two types of categories for countries in terms of quality of life and standard of living, and diplomatic significance and political importance.

The first category is for quality of life and standard of living, and ranges from A to D, where A is the highest. The second category is according to diplomatic significance and political importance, which ranges from X to Z, X being the most diplomatically significant or politically important.

The petition said that there have previously been constant complaints of favouritism and nepotism in postings and transfers in terms of the choice of country, with certain officers repeatedly posted to countries in the A and X categories, while some officials were being continuously posted in the C-Z and C-Y category areas.

It said the continuous ad hocism and discretion for foreign postings without any regulated policy created unrest among junior and senior officers in the Foreign Service, which affects motivation, performance and efficiency of officers and forces them to look for patronage and outside influence to obtain sought-after posts.

In 2015, a nine-member committee headed by the special secretary of the foreign affairs ministry was assigned to devise a comprehensive policy for foreign postings, which recommended a draft policy for the posting of officers abroad.

The petition said that the framers of the 2015 policy were aware of the abuse of discretion in transfers and postings of officers abroad, and devised a formula for this purpose so that officers would not be left at the mercy of the whims and wishes of one person. It added that the posting of an officer to a mission abroad is not just a matter of the quality of life and the career of the officer, but is of extreme national importance.

According to the petition, officers were posted according to the policy from 2017-19, but postings in 2020 have violated the policy.

The matter has been agitated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs time and again, it said, and asked the court to direct the concerned authorities to post officers abroad in accordance with the policy.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2020