Appointment of new KP IG challenged

Islamabad High Court on Monday issued notices to Secretary Establishment Division and recently appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Salahuddin Mehsud for April 05 in response to plea of Additional IG (Headquarters) KP Police, Syed Akhter Ali Shah. Barrister Masroor Shah has challenged the appointment before the IHC on grounds that the slot was filled in violation of the apex court's verdict and provisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Ordinance, 2016.
Taking up the matter on Monday, a single member bench of the Justice Aamir Farooq issued notices to the respondents in response to acting IG KPK Syed Akhter Ali Shah. During the proceedings, the counsel for the petitioner pleaded that recently notified IG police was promoted in controversial 2016 Central Selection Board (CSB) whose proceedings had been declared null and void by the Supreme Court.
He argued that incumbent IGP is a BPS-20 officer who cannot be appointed as IG as enunciated in Section 14 of the KPK Police Ordinance, 2016. The counsel contended that under the law, only a BPS-21 or BPS-22 officer of the police can be appointed as the provincial police officer - IGP. Barrister Masroor Shah argued that purported new appointment of IGP is not only contrary to the law but also amounts to gross contempt of the verdict of the Supreme Court. In the petition, he said, various police officers of BPS-20 had challenged the Office Memorandum before this IHC being unconstitutional, ultra vires and repugnant to the rules of justice.
On July 27, 2015, a single bench of the IHC stated that "the entire process carried out by CSB on the basis of formula introduced through policy of 2012 resulting into deferments/supersession of the petitioners is declared as illegal, without jurisdiction, in violation of law laid down by the superior courts and offensive to the accrued valuable rights of civil servants." While the federation's appeals, he maintained, were pending adjudication before the apex court, the federation purportedly conducted meeting of the Central Selection Board using the same controversial formula (Impugned OM), which had already been rendered as unconstitutional and ultra vires by the IHC.
In the said meeting of the Central Selection Board, 2016, he added, several junior police officers were promoted from BPS-20 to BPS-21 against the seats which were made vacant by reason of illegal supersession of the respondents in appeals. It is important to mention that recently the Supreme Court has dismissed federation's appeal while upholding order of the IHC. Now instead of implementing the judgement of IHC after it has been granted the seal of approval by the highest court of the land, he said, the secretary establishment "is adamant to continue pamper its blue-eyed civil servants."The petitioner has urged the court to issue directives to secretary establishment to appoint IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa strictly in accordance with the law and the relevant rules. After a brief hearing of the matter, the bench issued notices to secretary establishment and the recently appointed IGP KPK for April 5.