Federal Government have suspended Mr. Ghulam Mahmood Dogar CCPO Lahore vide a notification of Federal Establishment Division, Islam Abad. The notification reads that the officer serving under Punjab Government is placed under suspension with immediate effect until further orders.
However, the real question arises that whether Federal Government can suspend a Federal officer working under the Provincial Government?
Mr. Ghulam Mahmood Dogar is a federal police officer of Establishment division. His terms and conditions are regulated by the Federal Establishment Division. Hence, Federal government has all the legal competency to decide the terms and conditions of a federal employee. However, this is not the fundamental question. The question is whether a Federal police officer can be posted on a post connected with the affairs of a province?
PSP officers are placed in the provinces under Police rules , 1985. These rules are functional against the constitutional provisions of Article 240 (b) read with articles, 97, 129 and 137. Posts connected with the affairs of a province are under the constitutional authority of a province. However, when Federal officers are posted on these posts, this constitutional authority is challenged. Federal civil servants on provincial posts create a constitutional anomaly as latter are not under provincial law or the government. Therefore, Federal government exercise her authority on federal officers. Under these circumstances, provincial governments should align the bureaucratic part of executive.
Placing federal civil servants on the posts connected with the affairs of a province make a provincial government irrelevant. How is it constitutionally possible to have federal officers on posts connected with the affairs of a province? This is the fundamental constitutional anomaly.