PHC seeks govt response over appointment delay.

PESHAWAR -- The Peshawar High Court on Monday directed the chief and irrigation secretaries to respond to an officer's petition against the 'denial' of a senior post despite the chief minister's approval.

A bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali fixed March 17 for the next hearing into the case.

In the petition, superintendent engineer of the Mardan Irrigation Circle Engineer Wilayat Khan requested the court to declare illegal the 'inaction' of the relevant section officer of the establishment department to notify his appointment as the chief engineer (north) in line with a summary approved by the chief minister.

He also sought the court's orders for the immediate notification of his appointment as the chief engineer (north).

Counsel for the petitioner, Adnan Aman, said his client was appointed as assistant engineer in the department in 1991 and subsequently promoted as executive engineer (BPS-18) and then as superintendent engineer (BPS-19) on Aug 6, 2021.

Irrigation officer insists he's denied chief engineer's post despite CM's nod

He said as per the seniority list of BPS-19 notified on June 28, 2022, the petitioner was placed at Serial No 4.

The lawyer said the officer at Serial No. 1 had retired on Oct 19, 2022, whereas those at Serial Nos. 2 and 3 were already appointed as chief engineer (merged areas) and director general of the Jabba Dam Project Peshawar in Nov 2022 and Jan 2023, respectively.

He said that on Jan 9, 2023, a summary was moved by the secretary irrigation for his appointment as the chief engineer (North) to the competent authority (chief minister).

The counsel said that on Jan 26 the irrigation department asked the section officer E-1 (respondent No. 3) to notify the petitioner's appointment as chief engineer (North) after the same being approved by the chief minister.

He argued that the section officer could not sit over an approved summary and therefore, his act was illegal.

The lawyer added that his client was currently the senior most available officer in BPS-19 and thus he was rightly proposed for his appointment as chief...