Adding “sahib” to the job title of a public servant was banned by the Supreme Court on Tuesday because it “unnecessarily elevates the status of public servants.”
“It is about time that the practice of adding the word sahib with one’s job title is discontinued, as it unnecessarily elevates the status of public servants, discontinued, as it unnecessarily elevates the status of public servants, which may instill in them delusions of grandeur and a perception of unaccountability, which is unacceptable since it is against the interests of the public whom they are meant to serve,” stated a two-page written order by Chief Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
They were given by CJP Isa in an order about a bail plea in the murder case of a child in Peshawar last year.
In the order that came out today, the chief justice pointed out that the AAG of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) had called a local deputy superintendent of police “DSP sahib.”
That the case challan was based on only two statements and that there wasn’t enough research, CJP Isa said. He also said that this was a “classic example of an investigation that was handled badly.”
The chief justice of the highest court said, “Instead of treating the matter with the seriousness it deserves, two police officers who are investigating the crime traveled from Peshawar to bring documents that could have been emailed, faxed, or sent by WhatsApp. The documents could then have been filed, which would have helped decide the outcome of this bail application.”
The petitioner was then released on bail with a surety bond of Rs100,000. It was also ruled that more investigations be started into the case.
