SPSC, ACE issued with notices on plea against appointment criteria

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) and others on a petition challenging the SPSC’s appointment criteria for the post of ACE’s forensic investigation director.

Rana Shahzad Qaiser said in the petition that he had expertise in forensic investigation, and had applied for the post of ACE’s forensic investigation director in grade-19, submitting the requisite documents to the SPSC.

Qaiser said the SPSC had later announced through a press release that only one candidate out of 42 had qualified for the post, while the rest of the candidates had been rejected due to lack of documents or required experience. Challenging the SPSC’s appointment criteria, he said the commission had rejected him without any intimation of issuing a rejection letter, thereby bypassing its own rules.

He pointed out that he possessed the qualification of a forensic expert, and had worked with the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Wing, but the SPSC had appointed Mohammad Ali, who did not possess such a qualification, as forensic investigation director.

The petitioner requested the court to declare the procedure adopted by the SPSC with regard to the appointment of ACE’s forensic investigation director as unlawful. He also requested the court to direct the SPSC to reschedule the fair procedure of appointment on open merit.

After the preliminary hearing of the petition, an SHC division bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi issued notices to the SPSC, ACE and others, calling for them to file their comments on the next date of hearing.

STBB chairman

The SHC also suspended the notification issued with regard to the appointment of the chairman of the Sindh Textbook Board (STBB) until any further orders.

The direction came on a petition of Pervez Ahmed Baloch against the appointment of Agha Sohail Ahmed Pathan as STBB chairman. He said the petitioner’s appointment was approved by the provincial cabinet, but the respondent’s appointment was carried out without the cabinet’s approval.

He said the notification of the respondent’s appointment as STBB chairman is patently illegal. The court issued notices to the chief secretary, the services secretary and others to file their comments. The court also suspended the impugned notification with regard to the appointment of the STBB chairman until the next date of hearing.