ISLAMABAD - The federal government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it was willing to quash overriding effect of five marks for the promotion of senior high-ranking civil servants.

For the promotion of officers, the federal government on February 10, 2014, issued the Office Memorandum and Objective Assessment Form allocating 15 marks to the Central Selection Board (CSB) including five marks under the head of ‘integrity/general reputation perception’.

The five marks were given overriding effect if any officer under consideration for promotion could not secure at least three out of five marks, then he/she could be superseded or deferred, but its reasons will be recorded in writing. A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali took up the appeals of over 100 high-ranking officers out of 497 promoted officers of the federation and the provinces against the IHC verdict. Additional Attorney General Afnan Kundi submitted the amended policy of the CSB on behalf of the secretary Establishment Division. The court directed the appellants’ counsel to examine the Establishment Division’s statement and come up with their stance on it by November 17.

After the issuance of the memo, two CSBs were held in 2014 and 2015 in accordance with the ‘criteria of overriding effect of five marks for integrity’.

The Establishment Division’s statement said before the Islamabad High Court that the petitioners were eligible for consideration for promotion, and shall be considered afresh in the next CSB in the light of the amended memo after doing away with the overriding effect of five marks. The statement further said that if these officers were promoted they will regain their seniority with their batch mates promoted in the CSB held in May 2015. The Establishment Division had asked the court that the bona fide decision of the competent authority in accepting and notifying the promotions recommended by the CSB, held in May 2015, may kindly not be disturbed since the promoters were scrutinized and passed the stricter criteria of overriding effect of five marks for integrity besides having been condemned unheard by the high court. Advocate Hafiz S A Rehman represented 18 high ranking officers. He said that in view of the apex court’s judgment in the Orya Maqbool case his clients were promoted along with others in 2013. But after the issuance of the memo, which introduced five marks, the officers were reverted to their older position. He said that they had challenged the CSB’s new policy in the IHC. The single judge of the high court had dismissed the five marks overriding discretionary marks.  However, the intra-court of the IHC overruled the verdict of the single judge.