ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved the promotion of 26 officers of
the Pakistan Administrative Service (ex-DMG) to BS-21 but returned the
cases of 18 others who were recommended by the Central Selection Board
(CSB).
While returning these cases to the CSB, the
prime minister conveyed to the Establishment Division that he did not
deem it prudent and justified to approve the CSB’s recommendations as he
believed that only officers with impeccable repute should be promoted
in public interest.
This decision has raised questions
about the role and effectiveness of the CSB, which in its last board
meeting superseded hardly a few officers. The same day when the CSB met,
the military commanders also considered the promotions of brigadiers
and resorted to massive supersessions to ensure that only the best
amongst the best were promoted as two-star generals.
According
to the sources, the prime minister has approved the promotion from
BS-20 to BS-21 of the following officers of the PAS: Azmat Ali Ranja,
Rizwan Bashir Khan, Tipu Mahabat Khan, Aftab Habib, Tariq Masud, Ali
Zaheer Hazara, Dr Shujaat Ali, Oriya Maqbool Abbasi, Mohsin S Haqqani,
Aijaz Ali Khan, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Zahid Saeed, Shahid Ashraf Tarar,
Dr Hamad Uwais Agha, Altaf Ezid Khan, Shah Sahib, Arbab M Arif, Mrs
Seema Najeed, Hasan Iqbal, Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Mrs Tasmeen
Masood, Muzzadar Mahmood, Dr Allah Bakhsh, Younus Dagha, Shamail Ahmed
and Mohammad Misbah.
Those not promoted despite having
been recommended by the CSB include Abdul Jalil, Rashid Bashir Mazari,
Fazlur Rehman, Athar Husain Khan, Muhammad Rashid, Mian Zulkarnain
Aamir, Ahmad Yar Khan, Manzar Hayat, Aftab Ahmad Maneka, Muhammad Aslam
Hayat, Javed Nasir Syed, Sajjad Ahmed, Imran Afzal Cheema, Saqib Aleem,
Muhammad Ijaz, Naveed Kamran Baluch, Mukhtiar Hussain and Iqbal Ahmed
Bablani.
While returning these cases, the prime minister
observed that the board had failed to apply its mind and exercise its
discretion in an objective manner in evaluating officers on the
attribute of “integrity/general reputation/perception”.
The
prime minister also noted that the CSB was required to be mindful that
the attribute of integrity and reputation was inserted in the “Objective
Assessment Form” in order for the CSB to evaluate officers not only on
the basis of integrity as reported in the ACRs/PERs but also to form a
collective opinion as to general reputation and perception of the
officers under consideration in a reasonable, fair and equitable manner;
and then to award marks out of maximum five.
“A
mechanical exercise, without application of mind, to award marks for the
attribute ‘integrity/general reputation/perception’ on the basis of
formally written reports is, by no means, in consonance with the spirit
of the Honorable Supreme Court’s judgment in CP No. 22/2013 and the
essence of the Objective Evaluation Form to be used by the CSB,” the
premier said, adding that given the seniority, eminence and stature of
the individual members of the CSB, including its chairman, it would not
have been problematic for the CSB to assess the general
reputation/perception regarding officers under consideration,
particularly after these officers had had a service experience of around
25 years in full public view.
The PM asked the CSB to
reconsider their cases in its next meeting and assess and evaluate them
as to the attribute “integrity/general reputation/perception” in a
comprehensive and objective manner.
He said this exercise
should be conducted so that the judgment of the Honorable Supreme Court
in CP No22/2013 is complied with in letter and spirit. The Objective
Criteria Form, accordingly, should be read, applied and construed, not
as a freestanding document, but an instrument to put the afore-stated
judgment of the Honorable Supreme Court to effect. It is also noted that
in order to protect these officers against any unfair detriment, the
posts against which these officers were recommended by the CSB to be
promoted to BS 21 would remain vacant until the matter is reconsidered
by the CSB in its next meeting.
In the case of Farooq
Ahmed Khan, the prime minister observed that the officer was not fit as
yet to be promoted to BS 21 on account of his palpable and manifest
disinterest in his service. The officer remained on extraordinary leave
for four years and then remained an OSD for another four years. It is
also a matter of public knowledge that he remained engaged in setting up
a business of his own during this period. During the 10-year period
between 2003 and 2012, he could earn PERs only for a period of less than
three years.
