IHC says high courts can hear promotion assessment disputes

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has set aside the supersession and deferment of senior civil servants in promotion matters, holding that high courts can exercise jurisdiction in cases involving assessment of fitness and suitability for promotion.

In a detailed judgment authored by Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas, the court ruled that denial of fair consideration for promotion is open to judicial review and does not fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Federal Service Tribunal. The ruling came on a set of petitions filed by BS-20 officers from the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), Inland Revenue Service (IRS), Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) and the health sector, who had challenged their supersession or deferment by the Central Selection Board (CSB) during meetings held in March 2025.

The court set aside the CSB decisions and directed that the officers’ cases be reconsidered. The judgment said that although promotion to BS-20 and BS-21 is not a vested right and depends on merit and fitness, the process must meet the constitutional requirements of fairness, transparency and due process.

Court findings on procedure

Justice Minhas held that the CSB proceedings and the later communication of reasons were affected by procedural impropriety. The judgment noted that the officers concerned were told of the adverse decisions months after the board meetings. It said the board completed its deliberations in March of last year, but reasons for supersession and deferment were conveyed to some officers in September and to others in December.

The court observed that the Federation could not take advantage of its own failure by withholding reasons and then arguing that the petitions had been filed prematurely. It further held that while the court would not function as an appellate forum on the merits of the CSB’s assessment, administrative action remained subject to judicial review ' on grounds of illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety'.

Among the petitioners was Dr Mutahir Shah, a senior official of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), who challenged the deferment of his promotion to BS-20 as joint executive director of Pims. According to the judgment, he had earlier approached the Federal Service Tribunal after his name was left out of the promotion roster despite being the senior-most eligible officer. The tribunal had directed the government to consider his case in the next CSB meeting. The CSB later deferred his promotion, citing a 'mixed reputation'.

in relation to integrity and professional competence and recommending that his performance be watched further.

The court also examined the cases of several PSP officers who were denied promotion to BS-21. Dr Muhammad Akhtar Abbas, serving in Lahore in BS-20, was superseded after the CSB described him as an officer of 'average competence and peccable integrity'

. Nisar Ahmed Khan, director general of the Coordination Unit for Implementation of Initiatives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was denied promotion over allegations linked to integrity and professionalism, including concerns arising from an alleged voluntary return case.

Mujahid Akbar Khan also challenged his supersession after the board termed him professionally weak and referred to adverse additional information placed before it. Sheikh Yaseen Farooq and Israr Ahmed Khan were both described as officers of average competence with questionable integrity. In Agha Muhammad Yousaf’s case, the CSB cited ''controversial financial integrity while denying promotion.'

The only PAS officer among the petitioners, Bilal Ahmed Butt, challenged his supersession after the CSB referred to his alleged 'chequered history', his failure to attend mandatory training on three occasions and doubts about his financial integrity.

A number of IRS officers also moved the court after being superseded or deferred for promotion to BS-20. They included Karachi appeals commissioner Iqbal Ahmad Sheikh, Islamabad director of internal audit Shakeel Ahmed Shakeel and Karachi law director Mirza Nasir Ali. The CSB described them as officers of average competence with questionable integrity.

The board deferred the promotions of Muhammad Muti ur Rehman Mumtaz and Muhammad Zahid on 'performance watch'.

, observing that they carried mixed reputations regarding financial integrity. Other IRS officers who challenged the adverse recommendations were Wilayat Khan, Syed Ali Adnan Zaidi, Mumtaz Ali Bohio, Muhammad Amin Qureshi, Attiq ur Rehman Mughal, Muhammad Aslam Jamro and Dr Sajid Hussain Arain.

The court also reviewed petitions filed by PCS officers Arbab Qaiser Hamid and Dr Nasir Khan, who, according to the judgment, had repeatedly faced supersession in earlier CSB meetings as well.

Arguments before the court

During the proceedings, counsel for the petitioners argued that the CSB had relied on 'vague, cyclostyled and non-speaking reasons'

and had not confronted the officers with any adverse material. The petitioners said many of the officers had never faced disciplinary proceedings, corruption references or show-cause notices during their service. They also argued that the board had moved away from the objective quantification mechanism envisaged under the Civil Servants Promotion Rules, 2019.

The Federation defended the process, arguing that promotion to BS-20 and BS-21 required comparative assessment by senior bureaucrats and that the CSB exercised structured discretion under the 2019 promotion rules.