Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday suspended a notification for the appointment of Usman Khattak as permanent inspector-general of police (IGP) for Punjab, after it was pointed out that he is due to retire within months.
The court directed the respondent authorities to appoint a permanent IGP who can hold office for a period of three years by July 26.
The court also sought a compliance report and assistance from the Secretary Establishment, Secretary S & GAD and the advocate-general of Punjab on the next hearing.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansour Ali Shah passed the orders while hearing a petition filed by Abdul Razzaq, seeking appointment of a permanent IGP and implementation of Police Order 2002.
As the proceedings started, a law officer submitted a notification of appointment of Usman Khattak as permanent IGP of the province. He said Usman Khattak was appointed IGP, being a senior police officer.
However, petitioner’s counsel Saad Rasool said Usman Khattak was scheduled to be retired after three months and 11 days.
He said, under Sections 11 and 12 of Police Order 2002, it was mandatory to appoint permanent IGP for a period of three years. He contended the appointment of Khattak as a permanent IGP was a violation of the police regulations.
At this, the court agreed with stance of the petitioner’s counsel and suspended the notification of appointment of Khattak as permanent IGP, besides directing the respondents to appoint the new IGP for a period of three years by July 26.
Previously the additional inspector-general — training, Khattak was appointed as acting IGP on April 12 after the retirement of Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera.
On July 17, 2017, Khattak was appointed permanent IGP with immediate effect. He will reach superannuation on November 1, 2017.
