Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday sought a response from 64 petitioners on a petition filed by the federal government seeking suspension of the order against promotions of over 300 bureaucrats in grade 20 and 21. The IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on July 27 declared promotions in grade 20 and 21 recommended by Central Selection Board (CSB) in May void; and directed the establishment division to resubmit promotion cases to the authorities concerned after reframing promotion rules within one month.
The rules to be reframed included doing away with the discretionary marks awarded by CBS and categorization of civil servants within one month. The petitioners had contended their own eligibility for promotions which, they averred was denied to them due to a 'controversial' formula introduced by the federal government in 2012. Appearing before a single-member bench of Justice Amir Farooq in the matter, Additional Attorney General Afnan Kareem Kundi argued that the promotion of bureaucrats cannot be suspended until and unless the court gives its detailed verdict in this case. The counsel petitioners sought time to submit a reply in which the court granted and adjourned the case till Tuesday.