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Islamabad High Court Orders Reconsideration of Civil Servant’s Promotion Case

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Islamabad High Court Orders Reconsideration of Civil Servant’s Promotion Case

Islamabad 13-07-2024: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Central Selection Board (CSB) to reconsider the promotion of the petitioner, a Civil Servant who was superseded in his bid to move from BPS-19 to BPS-20. The decision, handed down by Mr. Justice Babar Sattar, came in response to a [Writ Petition No. 2100 of 2021] against the Federation of Pakistan and other respondents.

The petitioner, represented by Advocate Mohammad Ramzan Khan, claimed that his promotion was unjustly denied due to adverse remarks in his Performance Evaluation Report (PER) for 2018. These remarks, he argued, were made with mala fide intent by a departmental representative holding a grudge. The Federal Service Tribunal (FST) had previously set aside these adverse remarks, acknowledging that they were motivated by bias.

During the hearings, the petitioner asserted that he met all prerequisites for promotion, including successful completion of required management courses and having a consistently outstanding service record, except for the disputed PER. The adverse remarks, he noted, were written during a period when his case was under consideration, thus affecting his promotion prospects.

The respondents, including the Assistant Attorney-General and representatives from the Establishment Division, maintained that the petitioner’s case was processed according to the rules, and even after recalculating his scores following the FST's order, petitioner's total score remained below the required threshold of 70 marks for promotion.

Mr. Justice Babar Sattar highlighted the findings of Federal Service Tribunal that the adverse remarks and downgrading of petitioner’s performance were illegal and influenced by mala fide intentions. The IHC acknowledged that these remarks likely impacted the CSB’s decision. However, the Court noted that even with the recalculated scores, petitioner's aggregate score remained insufficient for promotion.

The IHC ruled that the CSB must reconsider petitioner’s case in its next meeting. The board is tasked with determining if the petitioner was entitled to promotion based on the FST’s corrected evaluation and, if so, whether he should be promoted retrospectively from January 2021, when he was initially superseded.

This decision underscores the importance of fair and unbiased performance evaluations in promotion decisions within the civil service. It also provides a significant precedent for other Civil Servants who may face similar issues of biased evaluations affecting their career advancements.

The Islamabad High Court’s directive for a reconsideration of the petitioner’s promotion case highlights the judiciary's role in ensuring transparency and fairness in civil service promotions, reinforcing the principle that evaluations should be free from personal vendettas and based on merit.