Pro forma policy for promotion of bureaucrats abolished.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal government has abolished the pro forma policy for promotion of bureaucrats that was not only burdening the exchequer but had also inundated the Establishment Division with frequent litigation.

The government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) through a statutory regulatory order (SRO) omitted the proviso that enabled the civil servants to claim pro forma promotion, according to documents available with Dawn.

Pro forma promotion is predating of promotion of a civil servant with effect from the date of promotion of his junior for the purpose of payment of arrears and fixation of pay.

According to the SRO 1 of 2022 issued on May 20 by the Regulations Wing of the Finance Ministry, the prime minister directed to amend the Fundamental Rule 17 commonly known as FR-17.

'In the aforesaid Rule, in Rule 17, in sub rule (1), the proviso shall stand omitted with immediate effect.'

Through a statutory regulatory order, govt omits proviso that enabled civil servants to claim such promotions

The finance ministry also dissolved FR-17 (1) committees. The government has also withdrawn the revised guidelines of 2015 that introduced two committees - Junior Level Committee and High Level Committee - to consider cases for pro forma promotion of civil servants.

As per the guidelines of FR-17 (1) of 2015, the government had enabled an officer 'to draw the pay and allowances attached to his tenure of a post with effect from the date when he assumes the duties of that post and shall cease to draw them as soon as he ceased to discharge those duties.'

It added: 'The appointing authority may, if satisfied that a civil servant who was entitled to be promoted from a particular date was for no fault of his own wrongfully prevented from rendering service to the federation in the higher post, direct that such civil servants shall be paid the arrears of pay and allowances of such higher post through pro forma promotion or upgradation arising from the antedated fixation of his seniority.'

Interestingly, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had already made the guidelines of 2015 virtually redundant.

The judegment authored by IHC Chief Justice...