Ch. LIAQAT ALI vs SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB and others
The petitioner, a Grade-18 officer, challenged his transfer and posting as D.C.O., Zila Council, Municipal Corporation, Faisalabad, on the ground that the position of Chief Corporation Officer is held by a Grade-17 officer, creating an administrative anomaly. The core legal question concerned whether an officer of a higher grade can be posted to a position subordinate to or equivalent to a lower-grade post. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, without issuing a formal writ or deciding the merits of the administrative policy, observed that the grievance appeared genuine. The Court disposed of the petition by granting the petitioner liberty to approach the Secretary, Local Government and Rural Development Department. The Court directed the Secretary to consider the petitioner's grievance and pass an appropriate order warranted by the facts and circumstances of the case. The judgment establishes the principle that administrative grievances regarding posting anomalies should first be addressed through departmental channels before judicial intervention, provided the grievance is prima facie genuine.
- Can an officer of a higher grade be posted to a position held by a lower-grade officer?
- Is it appropriate for a court to direct a departmental authority to address a service grievance before adjudicating the matter?
ORDER
' ZIA MAHMOOD MIRZA, J.---The only grievance agitated by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that he is a Grade-18 Officer but he has been transferred and posted as D.C.O., Zila Council, Municipal Corporation, Faisalabad while the Chief Corporation Officer is an officer of Grade-17. This grievance, if correct, appears to be genuine. Petitioner, if so advised, may approach the Secretary, Local Government and Rural Development Department who will attend to his aforementioned grievance and pass appropriate order warranted in the facts and circumstances.
2. With this observation, this petition is disposed of