Imdadullah Bosal, former principal secretary to ex-chief minister of Punjab, is likely to be posted as the chief secretary of Punjab.
Bosal, though 23rd Common, and a grade 21 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), falls in the promotion zone. He is likely to be given grade 22 in the upcoming High Powered Board meet.
Dr. Tauqir Shah, a grade 21 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, has already been posted as principal secretary to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
Shah, during the tenure of former PM Imran Khan, was sidelined on various charges including his involvement in the Model Town Case and the Rawalpindi Ring Road scam.
Imdadullah, after approval by the federal cabinet, is likely to be the civil service boss in Punjab. Bosal is also the brother of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nasir Bosal. The Bosal family is a political family based in Mandi Bahauddin.
During the past government of Imran Khan, Dr. Shah was not given any posting. Though Dr. Tauqir Shah was appointed as ambassador of Pakistan to the World Trade Organization when this news surfaced, the Pakistani Awami Tehreek (PAT) President Dr. Raheeq Abbasi wrote a letter to the WTO Chairman Jonathan Fried.
The letter said, “On the 17th of June 2014, the government sent the police to carry out an armed operation at the head office of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) and the residence of Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri in Lahore, which continued for approximately fifteen hours. Fourteen innocent unarmed civilians including two women, one of whom was pregnant, were killed and more than eighty-five people were injured by live firing and unprovoked aggression by the police. This operation is the worst of its kind in any democratic country and a gross violation of basic human rights.”
The letter adds, “While the chief minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was commanding the police operation in Model Town area of the provincial capital, Lahore, Dr. Tauqir Shah happened to be his principal secretary who was coordinating CM’s instructions to the field actors.”
Will the PAT show a reaction to Dr. Shah’s prized posting as principal secretary to PM or not, only time will tell. Dr. Shah also served as federal health secretary but only for one day or so.
Moreover, Dr. Shah was also allegedly involved in Ring Road Rawalpindi corruption case. An investigation consisting of the then commissioner Rawalpindi Gulzar Shah had held him accused in the mega corruption case.
Both Shah and Bosal will be posted against grade 22 slots. Usually, grade 22 Pakistan Administrative Service officers are posted against these two top positions in center and Punjab.
Earlier, Javed Mahmood was said to be a grade 21 officer who was posted as chief secretary Punjab. Later, he was promoted to grade 22. Former PM Imran Khan had also posted Azam Khan, a grade 21 officer as his principal secretary, who was later promoted to grade 22.
A senior officer in the Civil Secretariat told Minute Mirror on the condition of anonymity that Bosal, if posted, would be a junior officer in the province. Senior officers like Senior Member Board of Revenue Babar Hayat Tarar, a grade 22 PAS officer, of 18th common, Additional Chief Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza, Secretary Irrigation Captain (R) Saif Anjum, both grade 21 PAS officers of 21st common, are already serving in the province.
The high-powered board for promotions to grade 22 is due and all the homework and even the interviews had been conducted by the outgoing Prime Minister Imran Khan to promote the officers to grade 22.
Dr. Shah was ignored by Imran Khan for promotion and he was not interviewed, according to sources.
Now, after the change of the regime, Dr. Shah has occupied the most powerful position in bureaucracy in Islamabad. Now, he will be in the driving seat to promote, post, transfer officers of different grades across the country.
Moreover, both of the officers – Shah and Bosal – are likely to change the entire team of officers in Islamabad and Punjab and other provinces as well.
The chief secretary, ACS, home secretary, PS to CM, IGP, and other top functionaries are likely to be reshuffled in Punjab in the days to come.
