by Noman Wazir

When the Provincial Civil Servants approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the DMG post-grabbing formula, they issued SRO 88 of 2014 and included the said formula in the CSP Rules of 1954. Since district management had become a provincial subject (post-18th amendment), therefore they also tried to mutate to become relevant by the new constitutional scheme and changed their name from DMG to Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS). They have badly failed in their maneuvers because their own rules still call them ‘service of the federation.

In 2020, without the backing of any legal instrument, the federal employees (PAS/PSP) started to call themselves All Pakistan Service. After the promulgation of the 1973 Constitution, no All Pakistan Service has ever been raised to date by the Act of Parliament, and the Establishment Division’s claim of PAS being an All Pakistan Service is solely based upon Article 241 of the Constitution by adopting the repealed CSP Rules of 1954, the CSP being disbanded and its Rules repealed in 1973. Can a repealed rule be saved by a saving clause of the Constitution? The matter was taken to the standing committee of the senate wherein the committee recommended constituting an All Pakistan Service through an act of parliament.

Article 240(a) and (b), specifically provide that Parliament would make laws for the posts related to the affairs of the Federation and Provincial Assemblies would legislate laws for the posts in connection with the affairs of the Provinces. In complete contravention of the same, posts related to the affairs of the Provinces are earmarked for the officers of PAS in the garb of All Pakistan Services through a mere SRO without placing the same before the Parliament or Provincial Assembly for authentication.

Despite the matter being subjudice in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and High courts, the Establishment Division has again issued SRO No.1046 and has amended the CSP Rules, 1954 to legalize DMG, which is not possible under the Federal and Parliamentary Constitutional scheme.

Irrespective of the legal competency of the PAS Cadre, if we accept their claim of being All Pakistan Service and calculate the provincial posts in the light of their own CSP Rules of 1954 amended as PAS Rules of 2014. The schedule of the said Rules earmarks 321 specific posts for PAS in provincial services and after applying the percentage or formula in Rule 7.1 of the ibid Rules, there remain only 147 posts. However, in defiance of their own Rules, 600 PAS officers have been recruited and are also being promoted to 2000 random/unspecified provincial posts by depriving the Provincial Civil Servants of their right to career progression, thus affecting the efficient public service delivery.

On the contrary, through SRO 1046, they have now authorized the Establishment Division to grab more provincial posts at its pleasure by surpassing the authority of provincial executives by changing the definitions of the federal government and provincial government.

This act is not only tantamount to the subversion of the Constitution but also a usurpation of the authority of Parliament and Provincial Assemblies to legislate laws for their affairs provided by the Constitution. Federal Service or Posts would be raised on subjects reflected in Federal Legislative List Part I and All Pakistan Service of Posts would be raised on subjects reflected in Federal Legislative List Part II coming under the ambit of Council of Common Interests (CCI) as provided under Article 153 and 154 of the Constitution.

Thus, conducting recruitments, training, and promotions of PAS (Service of the Federation) as per abandoned CSP Rules of 1954 on Provincial posts is a constitutional offense and should be halted immediately for establishing the supremacy of the Constitution.

Unfortunately, third-world states are prey to the plague of the status quo and the reason is that the people at the helm of affairs do not want to disturb the scheme of things for the reasons known to them. They seek and need constant approval in the shape of rationalization, but don’t go for reformation of the system. We are history-blind and don’t want to see the history whereby the status quo is disrupted when not disturbed in favor of the people and the agents of this disruption used to be the common man.

Concluded.

The writer is a Provincial Civil Servant hailing from kpk.