PHC curtails KP CM’s authority over police postings

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday declared key amendments introduced through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police (Amendment) Act, 2024, unconstitutional, thereby restoring the operational independence of the provincial police force.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice S. M. Attique Shah and Justice Muhammad Ijaz Khan, while hearing Writ Petition No. 7810-P of 2025 (Barrister Muhammad Yousaf Khan vs Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and others), struck down the amendments made to the KP Police Act, 2017.

IGP authority reinforced

The Court struck down provisions that made postings of senior police officers (BS-18 and above) subject to the approval of the Chief Minister, and that removed the statutory authority of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to appoint field commanders.

In its ruling, the bench held that the amendments unconstitutionally undermined the operational autonomy essential for a professional police service, effectively reducing the force to an instrument of political expediency rather than an institution governed by law.

The judgment emphasised that under the constitutional scheme, the executive’s role of “superintendence” over the police is limited strictly to broad policy guidance and oversight.

Day-to-day administration including postings, transfers, and internal management, must remain exclusively with the IGP to preserve a coherent chain of command, institutional discipline, and meaningful leadership.

The court further observed that a depoliticised and functionally autonomous police force is not merely an administrative preference but a constitutional necessity for the protection of fundamental rights, particularly the rights to life (Article 9), fair trial (Article 10A), and equality (Article 25).

These rights, the court noted, are directly jeopardised when field command depends on political approval.

Applying the doctrine of “reading down,” the bench held that the Chief Minister’s power to issue “directions” must be confined to policy matters and cannot extend to individual operational decisions or personnel postings.

Any executive attempt to bypass the IGP in controlling field commanders, the court ruled, fractures the command structure and institutionalises political dependency within the police.

Reaffirming the principle of police independence, the judgment invoked the celebrated Blackburn formulation, reiterating that responsibility for law enforcement rests with the police chief, who is “answerable to the law and to the law alone.”