Senate Panel Discusses Appointment of PAS Officers as Provincial Chief Secretaries

The Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation held a meeting on Tuesday to deliberate on the appointment of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers as chief secretaries of the four provinces and Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to a press release, the committee met with Senator Farooq Hamid Naek in the chair, while the meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan, along with the committee members.

The point under discussion was whether or not the matter pertaining to the posting of senior federal government officers in the provinces was sub judice. A list of pending court cases against the civil service of Pakistan (Composition and Cadre) Rules, 1954 and the amendments made therein vide SROS 88(I)/2014 dated 10-02-2014, 89(I) 2014 dated 10.02.2014, 1046(I)/2020 dated 14-10-2020 and notification dated 12-03-2021, as well as the Inter-provincial Agreement of 1993, was laid on the table by the Ministry along with a brief on prayers in the writ petitions.

The committee observed that the matter was sub judice and the writ petitions were pending, so the question as referred to the committee by the house was not admissible as per Rule 50 (XVIII) & (XX) of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012. The Chair disposed of the matter.

Later, the Chair asked a question as raised in its previous meeting on the role and powers of the federal government in the appointment of officers in the provinces after the devolution of power to the provinces under the 18th Amendment. Exercising suo moto powers of the Senate committee, the Chair, unanimously with the members, decided to discuss the issue in detail in the next meeting and make recommendations for amendments in the Composition and Cadre Rules, 1954, Inter-provincial Agreement of 1993, and Karachi Agreement, 1949 to bring them in consonance with the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 after the 18th Amendment.

The meeting was attended by Senators Keshoo Bai, Prof. Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani, Kauda Babar, Prof. Sajid Mir, Syed Ali Zafar, and Azam Nazeer Tarar. Senior officials from the Ministry of Law and Justice and Establishment Division were also present.