Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, a Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) who had been suspended by the federal government, was appointed back to duty by the Supreme Court on Friday.
At a hearing, a three-member panel presided over by Justice Ijazul Ahsan gave notice to the federal government regarding Dogar’s appeal of the Federal Service Tribunal’s ruling (FST).
Dogar’s attorney, Abid Zuberi, claimed that after the FST restored Dogar, the decision to reinstate him was halted by a two-member panel of the service tribunal. He contended that while the government’s review petition is still pending before it, the decision of a two-member bench of the tribunal cannot be overturned by another two-member bench.
Justice Ijaz then questioned how one tribunal bench could revoke the judgement of another. According to Justice Ijaz, the special bench halted the order and declared the petition to be premature. How can the high court rule that a constitutional petition is not important enough to hear, questioned Justice Mazahar Naqvi.
The provincial administration does not want to release the CCPO, lawyer Zuberi retorted. After reinstalling Dogar as the Lahore CCPO, the court put the hearing on indefinite hold.
CCPO’s suspension
On November 5, the federal government suspended Lahore CCPO Dogar with immediate effect. The action was taken a day after an enraged crowd of PTI supporters protested the assassination attempt on Imran Khan’s life in front of the Governor House in Lahore.
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In the Lahore High Court, the officer contested his dismissal as the CCPO (LHC). Additionally, he filed an FST motion opposing his suspension.
Dogar’s request was rejected by the LHC on November 8 because it lacked jurisdiction over the matter. The federal government’s November 5 notification was postponed on November 10 by the panel made up of Asim Akram and Mushtaq Jadoon in a two-page written decision.
The tribunal upheld Dogar’s appeal against the federal government’s decision and ruled that his suspension was illegal and against the rulings of the supreme court.
Later, on December 2, an FST bench rejected a single-bench order to reinstate Dogar and ordered to remove the CCPO. The cop then appealed this decision in the Supreme Court.