ISLAMABAD In violation of the orders of the Supreme Court (SC) and Federal Services Tribunal and Promotion Rules, the Establishment Division has promoted around 50 section officers (SOs) to the post of deputy secretaries, TheNation reliably learnt on Wednesday. The case of the 50 Sos, who have been promoted by the Establishment Division, is sub judice and waiting courts decision, well-placed sources informed TheNation. According to rules, the Establishment Division can take up no such case, which is under consideration for decision in a court. It is learnt that the legal council in this case has served a notice on Secretary Establishment that promotion case of the officers, who are party in seniority case pending before the Federal Service Tribunal, should not be taken up for consideration, as it would be against the rules as well as court orders. However, in spite of this warning, the Establishment Division has promoted those whose seniority is in doubt, the sources informed. These officers even have not yet completed ten years in service and have been given the charge of deputy secretaries in BPS-19 by the Establishment Division, they disclosed. On the other hand, officers in Office Management Group (OMG), who after clearing CSS examination have entered the Civil Services through constitutional mechanism earlier than these promoted officers, have been asked to run from pillar to post in search of justice. These qualified officers, the sources informed, have been struggling to draw attention of the Government and the judiciary towards injustice meted out with them in seniority issue in OMG for the last two years, but their plea has not yet met any fate. They have only requested the Government to give seniority to the officers in OMG from the date of their joining the group, the sources informed. Sensing the significance of the matter, the sources revealed, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has also changed the ultra vires Rule 6 of Seniority Rule 1993 declaring that seniority in service will be maintained from the date of entry in service. These SOs were inducted in the OMG through a backdoor move by the Establishment Division in 2000. While, the only legal way to employ section officers in the federal government is through CSS examination. The Establishment Division for unknown reasons had stopped recruitment in OMG through CSS examination in 2000 and promoted a large number of steno-typists and assistants over and above their ratio. These promoted persons also occupy some important positions in the Establishment Division and have been influencing government decisions on seniority since then, the sources informed. It is also pertinent to note that they have even managed to undo a decision made by the Prime Minister against them in May 27, 2009. In the background interviews conducted with the aggrieved officers in the light of the decision of the Prime Minister made on May 27, 2009, they have requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to interfere in the proceeding and stop the Establishment Division from notifying the faulty decision.