ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court turned down on Wednesday a request by Sindh Inspector General Ghulam Haider Jamali for acceptance of his unconditional apology for retaining a police officer on deputation in the Anti Corruption Department (ACD) of Sindh in violation of an earlier court order.
“You should defend yourself since we are not going to accept your apology,” observed Justice Amir Hani Muslim, a member of the three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali.
“There is no need to conduct a full-fledged trial since you already stand guilty when you already have accepted your responsibility,” Justice Muslim observed.
Know more: Apologies of IG, other police officers rejected again in SHC siege case
“If a senior officer like IG is not well conversant with civil service rules then he has no right to remain in uniform,” Justice Muslim regretted, adding that “in addition to the instant case several more complaints are pending against you”.
The court also decided to formally charge the Sindh IG, AIG of the Establishment Division of Sindh, Naeem Sheikh, and ACD Chairman Mumtaz Ali Shah for committing the contempt of the court when the case will again be taken up in for hearing January.
The court was extremely bitter over the fact how Saifullah Palphoto, who was inducted into the Sindh Police in 1995 as assistant sub-inspector and later elevated to the position of Inspector in Grade 16 in 2002 was promoted in the ACD Sindh in Grade 17 and then to 18 as a deputy director and how he served there almost for a decade though he had come on deputation and despite the fact that he did not fulfil the required qualification for such posts.
Usually an officer on deputation comes in a department for only three years and after completion of that period he has to go back to his parent department.
The court also noted that the notification for officer’s absorption in the anti-corruption department also carried a letter of the Sindh chief secretary in which the chief minister had expressed his desire that a lenient view about the qualification criteria be taken in favour of the officer while inducting him in the department. After five years, the officer went back to the Sindh police and then again joined the anti-corruption department.
This was done in complete violation of the earlier Supreme Court Nov 12 order in which the court had directed the Sindh bureaucracy to return all officers inducted and absorbed into different provincial government departments to their parent departments.
The court was particularly unpleased over the fact that Mr Palphoto’s absorption and promotion in the anti-corruption department was managed by his brother who was working in the Sindh chief secretary’s office.
During proceedings of the case, the AIG of Establishment Division conceded that it had become the order of the day in Sindh that orders were received from high-ups for the appointment of certain officers leaving the ED with no choice but to silently issue a notification.
ACD Chairman also admitted that he had no idea whether services of the officer was needed in his department or not.
The Sindh IG also admitted that the deputation of Palphoto was initiated by the Sindh police into ACD and that the entire procedure had not been covered under any law and in complete violation of civil service rules.
Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2015
