Political appointments in police: Hearing set for 29th

KARACHI – The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on a constitutional petition regarding alleged political appointments in the Karachi police department until March 29.
The SHC division bench comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Shahid Anwar Bajwa heard the petition moved by Ali Safdar Depar and Javed Kalwar through senior lawyer Abdul Salam Memon, seeking to restrain authorities concerned for further recruitments on political basis.
The petitioners on Tuesday moved another application requesting the court that all 12 members of the three selection committees of the department made the respondents. The court directed that the application be submitted in the office and fixed March 29 for the next hearing.
The SHC has already issued a stay order against these appointments in the police department. The plaintiffs had submitted that in 2010, the police department had announced recruitment of at least 1,500 constables in the Karachi police, for which more than 10,000 candidates, with many of them graduates and highly literate, had applied for the jobs.
They alleged that the police department had conducted written tests and examinations just for the formalities, as the eligible candidates, who did not have political backing were not considered. Quoting a news item published in a local newspaper, the petitioners submitted that even before the announcement of final results, the prime minister and the provincial chief minister had visited the police headquarters and ordered the police authorities concerned to recruit their recommended candidates.
Terming the current recruitments in the police department illegal, they stated that the recruitments were done on political basis and the well-educated and qualified applicants not considered.
Pleading that the court declares the current recruitment as illegal and issue orders for recruitment on merit, the petitioners further prayed that the entire record of the appointments made by the police department be examined by a judicial committee to make the recruitment policy transparent.