Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has told the provincial police to pull back unauthorised police escorts given to government officials, political office-holders and private individuals. The step follows complaints that police staff were being used for security and protocol work beyond their proper role. Fresh Punjab government orders from the Chief Minister’s Office, dated October 22, set out who may keep escort cover and who may not.
Who is covered by the directive
Under the priority instructions, no police escort is to be permanently assigned without valid authorisation. That rule applies to members of the provincial cabinet, advisers and special assistants to the chief minister, parliamentary secretaries, chairpersons of standing committees, members of the provincial assembly, government officers and private individuals. Escorts are meant only where authorised security needs justify them, not as a routine privilege.
The chief minister has also barred the use of flagstaffs and official flags on vehicles by people who are not legally entitled to show them. The aim is to keep official symbols limited to those the law allows, alongside tighter control of escort deployments.
How the order will be enforced
The instructions were issued by Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sajid Zafar Dall. They require the Provincial Police Officer (PPO) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP)—Punjab’s top police commanders—to ensure immediate compliance. They must retrieve or withdraw any police escort found deployed without proper authorisation.
Copies of the directive have been sent to the chief secretary, the home secretary, the additional secretary for Law and Order at the Chief Minister’s Office, and the chief minister’s principal staff officer, so those offices can take action and follow up. The IGP has been asked to see that the chief minister’s instructions are applied strictly and at once.
Why the move was made
Officials say the Punjab government orders respond to complaints about police personnel being used for protocol and escort duties by people without a valid entitlement. That practice raised concern that law-enforcement resources were being diverted from their primary job: maintaining law and order and protecting citizens. The latest standing orders seek to reverse that misuse and restore escorts and official vehicle flags to authorised use only.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab ki CM Maryam Nawaz ne police ko hukm diya hai ke jo logon ke paas bina ijazat police escort lagi ho, woh foran hata di jaye. Wazir, MPA aur officers ke liye bhi permanent escort ab sirf jaiz ijazat se mil sakti hai. Gariyon par official jhande bhi unhi ke liye hain jinhen qanoon ijazat deta hai. Iska matlab yeh hai ke police zyada tar awam ki hifazat aur qanoon-o-nizam ke kaam par lage, protocol ke liye nahi.
