IHC to hear petitions today: Violation of policy on foreign posting of officers

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear the petitions related to transfers and postings of officers in Pakistani missions abroad in violation of the Policy of Foreign Posting of Officers, today (Tuesday).

A single bench of IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will take up the petitions of Ambassador Zahid Nasrullah and Director (Public Diplomacy) Majid Khan Lodhi who have moved the petition through their counsel Barrister Zafarullah Khan.

The IHC had already issued notices to the federal government. The petitioners have challenged various transfers and postings of officers in Pakistani missions abroad, including their own transfers, for violating the Policy of Foreign Posting of Officers.

Ambassador Nasrullah had joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1987. He served as Pakistani's ambassador in Korea and Afghanistan, while Lodhi has been serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the last 13 years.

It stated that the ministry has devised two types of categories for countries in terms of quality of life and standard of living, and diplomatic significance and political importance. The first category is for quality of life and standard of living, and ranges from A to D, where A is the highest.

The second category is according to diplomatic significance and political importance, which ranges from X to Z, X being the most diplomatically significant or politically important.

The petition further said that there have previously been constant complaints of favouritism and nepotism in postings and transfers in terms of the choice of country, with certain officers repeatedly posted to countries in the A and X categories, while some officials were being continuously posted in the C-Z and C-Y category areas.

It said that the continuous ad hocism and discretion for foreign postings without any regulated policy created unrest among junior and senior officers in the Foreign Service, which affects motivation, performance and efficiency of officers and forces them to look for patronage and outside influence to obtain sought-after posts.

The petitioners added that in 2015, a nine-member committee headed by the special secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry was assigned to devise a comprehensive policy for foreign postings, which recommended a draft policy for the posting of officers abroad.

They further said that the framers of the 2015 policy were aware of the abuse of discretion in transfers and postings of officers abroad, and devised a formula for this purpose, so that officers would not be left at the mercy of the whims and wishes of one person.

It added that the posting of an officer to a mission abroad is not just a matter of the quality of life and the career of the officer, but is of extreme national importance.

According to the petition, officers were posted according to the policy from 2017-19, but postings in 2020 have violated the policy. The petitioners maintained that the matter was agitated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs time and again. Therefore, they requested the court to direct the concerned authorities to post officers abroad in accordance with the policy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020