ECP decides to keep mum on Lahore CCPO transfer issue
Pakistan
SC on Feb 17 had suspended interim Punjab govt's notification to transfer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday put off a matter related to appointment of Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) after the Supreme Court suspended an order issued by the interim Punjab government to transfer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar.
The decision was taken at a meeting attended by the ECP officials and lawyers. The legal experts suggested that the electoral body should stay away from the matter as it is currently sub judice.
The Lahore CCPO transfer matter was part of today’s meeting but it was put off without considering it.
The apex court on Feb 17 suspended a notification issued by the caretaker government in Punjab to transfer former Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar.
Read More: Supreme Court again reinstates Ghulam Mahmood Dogar as Lahore CCPO
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan and comprising Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, had reinstated Dogar while issuing ruling on a petition against his transfer.
- BACKGROUND -
The BS-21 officer was at the centre of the feud between the federal and the then Punjab government under Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. The issue of his transfer stemmed in September 2022 when the federal government recalled his services in a surprise move after he booked two PML-N ministers and other officials on terrorism charges. However, the move was blocked by Mr Elahi, then Punjab chief minister, saying the federal government could not transfer him. Later, the PDM-led federal government suspended him in November last for failing to ensure security of the Governor House.
The CCPO challenged his suspension in the Lahore High Court but it declared his petition inadmissible due to limitations of its jurisdiction. He later moved the Federal Services Tribunal (FST) where a single bench reinstated him on Nov 10.
Later, the Establishment Division challenged the FST’s Nov 10 verdict, requesting the bench to roll back the previous decision of the tribunal and form a large bench to hear the case. On Nov 25, a two-member FST bench suspended an earlier decision of reinstating Dogar as CCPO.
The matter was then taken to the apex court which restored him on Dec 2, 2022. Then on Jan 23, the caretaker Punjab government replaced Dogar with Bilal Siddique Kamyana as the new Lahore CCPO.
