Pakistan court bars indefinite deferment of civil servants’ promotions — The Express Tribune

Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that repeatedly deferring consideration of a civil servant’s promotion cannot be used to postpone their case indefinitely. At the same time, even three consecutive deferments do not give an official an automatic right to promotion, The Express Tribune reports.

Safeguards for civil servants

In a 19-page ruling authored by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, the court set out safeguards for civil servants whose cases are repeatedly deferred by the Central Selection Board. An official is entitled to have their candidacy considered when applicable rules provide for this, and the decision must be based on objective criteria.

If required by the relevant policy, the civil servant must be told the specific and understandable reasons for an adverse decision. They must also be given a genuine opportunity to remedy the deficiency for which consideration was deferred. Repeated deferments cannot be based on no new, specific, and legally relevant grounds.

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Grounds for a new deferment

The court stressed that each deferment must have a defined legal basis and comply with promotion rules or policy. If the initial deficiency has already been remedied, the authority must state a new lawful basis for further postponing consideration.

The ruling was issued in the case of a police officer who challenged the refusal to promote him from the 19th to the 20th service grade. The court dismissed his appeal but clarified that the promotion of junior-ranked officials does not in itself turn a temporary deferment into permanently bypassing a civil servant when candidates are considered, if the initial ground for the deferment has disappeared.

The court also noted that the existence of proceedings may justify a deferment, but a subsequent exoneration removes such grounds. The ruling mentions guidance for civil servants formulated by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in a speech in April 1948.