LAHORE: The caretaker government in Punjab has removed Inspector General of Prisons Punjab Mubashar Ahmad Khan, following the long litigations against the violation of criteria for the appointment of the top slot.

It has posted Mian Farooq Nazir (BPS-21) being the senior most in the seniority list of the prisons service officers.

It is his third posting as the IG prisons Punjab, making him the only officer of the prisons service who got the top slot third time. Earlier, he had served as IG Prisons Punjab from 2008 to 2009 and then from 2012 to 2017.

Mr Nazir was serving as Member Enquiries-IV when a notification of his transfer and posting as the new IG prisons was issued on Thursday.

An official said the appointment of the IG prisons has been at the centre of controversies for the last many years when successive governments picked up junior officers for the slot. He said Mr Nazir was among many others who were earlier ignored despite being eligible for the post. He was serving as IG prisons when the then government transferred him in October 2017 and posted his junior colleague, Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig (BPS-20), as new IG Jail. He had protested his transfer and had met the then authorities in the Punjab government.

The official said on finding the authorities unmoved by the presentations he had submitted to them regarding violation of the criteria, he moved the court against the appointment of Mr Baig as IG prisons. Mr Baig completed his term on Oct 20, 2022 and retired. Mr Farooq Nazir again started his efforts to be appointed as the IG prisons after the retirement of Mr Baig.

After holding separate meetings with the then Punjab chief secretary and the additional chief secretary (Home), Mr Nazir also submitted a representation to the then CM Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, seeking his intervention for the appointment of the new IG Prisons ‘in accordance with rules’.

Some DIG-rank officers, including Prisons DIG Headquarters Malik Mubashar Ahmad Khan and Sahiwal’s Staff Training College commandant Mian Salik Jalal, also jumped into the race for becoming the IG Prisons.

Mr Mubashar was fourth in the seniority list and Mr Jalal third. Another DIG-rank officer, Kokab Nadeem Warraich, was holding second position in the seniority list. He was serving as the Chief Minister Inspection Team chairman.

During the meetings with the higher-ups, Mian Nazir claimed he was the only prisons service officer serving in BPS-21 and was on the top of the seniority list. He also presented a Punjab budgetary book that had declared the “IG Prisons Punjab as sanctioned/regular post of BPS-21”.

The documents further showed that the IG shall be appointed “by promotion on the basis of selection on merit from amongst the Deputy Inspectors General of Prisons having twenty two years service in (BS-17) and above out of which two years service as DIG (BS-20) on a regular basis”.

Similarly, the National Management Course or National Defence Course at the National Defence University, Islamabad, has been declared mandatory for promotion to BPS-21.

The then government ignored all his claims and posted Mr Mubashar as new IG Prisons in October 2022.

Mr Nazir again moved the court as well as the relevant authorities of the caretaker government against the appointment of Mr Mubashar in violation of criteria. And the government removed Mr Mubashar from the top slot and posted Mr Nazir as new IG prisons.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2023