KARACHI: The Sindh Cabinet on Saturday approved the removal of Inspector General Police (IGP) AD Khawaja, replacing him with Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.
The Services secretary told the meeting that in March 2016, AD Khawaja had been appointed as Sindh IGP on his own pay scale (OPS). “However, this system was afterwards dismissed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” he said.
AD Khawaja, a grade-21 officer, has been serving on OPS basis on the grade-22 Sindh IGP post. The secretary proposed replacing Khawaja with Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti, a grade-22 PSP officer. “A new police chief must be appointed in compliance with the top court’s orders,” the Services secretary argued.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan had deprecated appointments on the OPS basis, while passing directives to remove OPS officers,” he added.
He suggested that AD Khawaja’s services be surrendered to the federal government and Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti be appointed as the new IGP.
However, AD Khawaja, who was also present in the meeting, argued that the apex court’s ruling was even effective at the time of his appointment in 2016. He said that grade-21 officers were also serving as IGPs in other provinces, adding that the Punjab IGP had recently promoted to grade-22.
Addressing the meeting, CM Syed Murad Ali Shah said that he wanted to ensure that the police rules were in accordance with the constitution. “We want to improve the performance of institutions in the interest of the people,” he said.
Earlier this month, Dasti – who is currently serving as the Research and Development additional inspector general (AIG), was promoted to grade-22 by the federal government.
The Pakistan Peoples’ Party-led Sindh government has been at loggerheads with Khawaja over the past.
In April this year, the Sindh Cabinet had also approved the removal of the IGP. Dasti had then assumed the charge of IGP for a short period of time. However, he relinquished his post after the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision in the matter.
The promotion of Majeed Dasti to grade-22 is being viewed as an attempt to restore him as IGP.
In September, the PPP-led Sindh government suffered another blow after the SHC annulled its decision to remove Khawaja. The court allowed the police chief to continue his office.
The bench, in its short order, set aside the government notification for relieving Khawaja from the IGP office, ruling that the provincial government could not remove an IGP without any justification.
The court also made it mandatory for the government to follow the verdict in Anita Turab case under which an IGP could not be removed from his post before completion of three years of his tenure.
The provincial government had then decided to challenge the high court’s decision in Supreme Court, government sources said.
Published in Daily Times, October 29th 2017.
