LHC suspends notification to increase federal bureaucracy share in province

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday suspended the federal government’s notification to increase its share in the provincial bureaucracy.

Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi stayed the notification while hearing a petition challenging the existence of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and the deployment of its members in the provinces.

Several officers of the Punjab Provincial Management Service (PMS) filed the petition through Advocate Bilal Hassan Manto.

The lawyer argued that the 1954 CSP laws used by the federal government to appoint its officers to provincial posts were unconstitutional and that the federal government should allow its government employees, including those belonging to the PAS, to be provincial.

He said that the federation had in fact violated the powers of the Punjab government by allocating posts in the province for PAS officers through fabricated laws, adding that the federal government could post its government employees only on matters which are on the list of federal legislation and all other postings including the chief secretary are purely provincial posts which cannot be occupied by federal employees.

He said that the government issued an illegal notification on March 12, 2021 by which the posts of federal officers in the provinces were increased from 115 to 446.

Justice Najam Sethi suspended the illegal notification and sought a detailed reply from the federal and provincial governments on the date of hearing to be fixed by the office.