At Daggers Drawn

The simmering row over the transfer of Lahore Police Chief yet again brings Punjab at loggerheads with the Centre

Punjab government has hardly recovered from the controversy of Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, who had expressed his inability to work with the coalition government and left for a long leave, that it has landed into another; this time a confrontation with the federal government over the transfer issue of the Capital City Police Chief, Lahore Ghulam Mahmood Dogar.

The issue has snowballed into a major row, striking at a juncture when PTI Chairman Imran Khan has given a call to his political workers to get ready for the decisive long march, and the federal government has demanded KP and Punjab governments for additional police force to counter such moves.

Surely, the transfer of Lahore Police Chief is adding fuel to the fire. Punjab government, following footprints of KP, has refused providing additional police force to the federal government.

Now the political hierarchy of the biggest province, which has been under criticism for running its administrative affairs through ‘additional charge’ basis, is determined that it will not surrender CCPO Lahore to the federal government at any cost.

The additional charge of the post of Chief Secretary is held by Chairman Planning and Development Abdullah Sumbal while Home Secretary Capt (retd) Asad is holding the additional charge of Additional Chief Secretary Punjab as well as that of Director Geneal Anti-Corruption.

Punjab government is currently head on with the federal government on the issue of transferring the CCPO Lahore without consultation. The Establishment Division on September 20 had suddenly transferred CCPO Dogar with directives to leave the charge and report to the federal government.

The immediate reason for this transfer was stated to be the registration of two FIRs under terrorism act against two federal ministers – Maryam Aurangzeb and Javed Latif. The cases were registered at the Green Town police station by PTI activist Irshad-ur-Rehman.

Apart from the case against Latif and Aurangzeb, a case has also been filed against Pakistan Television (PTV) Managing Director Sohail Khan and Controller Program Rashid Baig under the anti-terrorism provisions.

Insiders claim that the cases were filed on the instruction of CCPO Lahore against the will of IG Punjab Faisal Shahkar, who was against including the terrorism charges in the FIRs.

It is further learnt that Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has conveyed to the IGP for the registration of FIRs against the federal ministers under the terrorism sections, but the IGP has resisted the move and taken a firm stand on the issue.

However, the IGP’s subordinate CCPO Dogar has now ordered the registration of cases under the terrorism act which has clearly annoyed the federal government and it has decided to withdraw his services from Punjab.

It may be mentioned here that CCPO Dogar is quite close to his retirement which is due in April 2023 as per the notification already issued by the Establishment Division.

Reacting on the federal government’s decision regarding the CCPO, CM Punjab Pervaiz Elahi through a tweet has criticised the notification issued from Islamabad, terming it to be illegal, and has directed the CCPO not to leave the charge of his office.

Following the orders of CM Punjab, the CCPO has also announced that he will not be leaving the charge till further directions from the provincial government.

Elahi, in fact, added fuel to fire when he met the CCPO in person the very next day of the federal government notification, hugging him ad patting him on the back for not yielding to pressure from capital. During the meeting, CM Elahi claimed that the provincial government can stop the officers constitutionally and lawfully in view of public interest.

However, the accolades received by the CCPO from CM Elahi in the meeting has raised many an eyebrow within the political and bureaucratic circles in Punjab, as many believe that it is highly unbecoming of a professional officer to hug and receive pats from the CM at a time when crime in Lahore is rampant.

Nevertheless, Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has warned the CCPO of the consequences if he failed to carry out the federal government orders. Likewise, PML-N senior leader Rana Mashood has also warned the CCPO of not becoming a tool in the hand of PTI leadership and advised him of leaving the charge.

Besides, the PML-N has also submitted a resolution in the provincial assembly against the mounting crime rate in Lahore, because of preoccupation of Lahore Police in political affairs.

Refusal from the CCPO to leave the charge of his post has triggered a debate within the bureaucratic circles, whether or not it is a wise decision on his part.

There are many who believe that the federal government cannot transfer any officer without any valid reason. They gave reference of the Civil Servants Act 1973 under which the federal government will consult the provincial governments before surrendering or forwarding any of the officers to them.

However, there are many who believe that the Establishment Division was the competent authority to determine where a civil servant is to be posted. They quote the Sind High Court decision in which SHC stated that Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act 1973 and Rule 10 of the Police Service of Pakistan 1985 provided transfer and posting of the civil servants/PSP officers to different provinces and the competent authority can withdraw any such officer of federal government before the expiry of their tenure.

The SHC further stated that the rotation policy can’t restrict the process of a competent authority, which is  the Establishment Division, from withdrawing any civil servant/PSP officer from provincial governments at any time on administrative grounds and on valid reasons.

Following the decision from SHC, the Establishment Division asked the Sindh government to immediately relieve the transferred officers so as to enable them to join their new departments. They claim that the federal government can initiate action against CCPO Lahore if he does not comply with the Establishment Division’s orders.