LHC suspends law officers' termination orders: case referred to Chief Justice

Justice Khalid Alvi of the Lahore High Court (LHC) suspending the termination orders of 401 law officers in prosecution department by the present government, referred the petition to Chief Justice to constitute a larger bench. The government had sacked three assistant prosecutors generals, 18 deputy prosecutors general, 83 deputy district prosecutors and 383 assistant and public prosecutors.
Punjab Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah, had alleged that the rulers were giving them lucrative salaries to protect their interests. He said that the prosecutor general was getting a Rs 200,000 salary per month, additional prosecutor general Rs 150,000, deputy prosecutor Rs 75,000 and public prosecutor Rs 65,000.
Challenging the decision, the applicants said their termination orders were illegal because the executive authority of the province had to be exercised in the name of the Governor, which had not been done in this case. They were removed in the name of failing to get through the interviews despite the fact that they were brought into service after they passed their interviews. But instead of regularisation, the petitioners were removed from their service illegally, arbitrarily and mechanically.