All secretaries, heads of government, semi-government and autonomous institutions have submitted a report to the Chief Secretary Punjab that the orders of the Supreme Court have been implemented in letter and spirit and at present there is no OSD in their department, he added.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had ordered that Officers should not be posted as OSD except for compelling reasons, which must be recorded in writing and are judicially review able. If at all an officer is to be posted as OSD, such posting should be for the minimum period possible and if there is a disciplinary inquiry going on against him, such inquiry must be completed at the earliest.
Giving protection to the civil servants from the victimisation of the powers that be the Supreme Court in its historic judgement in Anita Turab case observed "Civil servants owe their first and foremost allegiance to the law and the Constitution. They are not bound to obey orders from superiors which are illegal or are not in accordance with accepted practices and rule-based norms; instead, in such situations, they must record their opinion and, if necessary, dissent.
The spokesman said to implement the SC judgement, the Punjab government has given postings to 65 officers on special duty (OSD) except those who are under suspension for necessary reasons or those are on training.