High court orders filling all Sindh government positions on merit

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Sindh government to ensure that the recruitment of every post from grade 1 till grade 15 in any government department is made through a competitive process on open merit with budgetary sanctions on a regular basis by the invoking Sindh Civil Servant Law and Rules.

Allowing petitions seeking regularisation of contractual employees in the land administration and revenue management system (LARMS) and livestock department, a division bench of the high court comprising Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon observed that the appointment in the public office could only be made through a competitive process on merit as provided under the recruitment rules.

The bench ordered that in the future, the Sindh government shall avoid public appointments having permanent status on a contractual and ad-hoc basis, except for the posts provided under the Rules 18 to 20 of the Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion, and Transfer) Rules 1974.

The high court observed that it was a well-settled law that appointments in public office should be made strictly under applicable rules and regulations without any discrimination and in a transparent manner.

The SHC observed that all appointments in the public institutions must be based on a process that is substantially and tangibly fair and within the parameters of its applicable rules, regulations, and bylaws.

The high court remarked that if a candidate had applied for a job based on some admissible quota under the law, he could be accommodated subject to his qualification for the post under the dicta laid down by the Supreme Court on the subject issue.

The petitioners had submitted that they were appointed on a contractual basis as data process assistants in LARMS through a test conducted by the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration in 2013 and their contractual term was later annually extended.

They submitted that they had legitimate expectation for appointment on a regular basis.

A counsel for the petitioner argued that employment was the source of livelihood and the right of livelihood was an undeniable right to a person, therefore, the petitioners who had served the respondents LARMS or the livestock department for such a long period deserved to be given a fair chance of regularisation in the given situation.

The SHC was informed by the counsel that the petitioners were fit and qualified to retain the said posts on a regular basis besides the cases of the petitioners squarely fell within the ambit of the non-development project side posts, due to which their services should be treated a regular job.

A provincial law officer opposed the prayer of the petitioners on the premise that their case did not fall within the ambit of the Sindh (Regularization of Adhoc and Contract Employees) Act, 2013.

He submitted that the Sindh Cabinet had decided to constitute a sub-committee to look into the legal aspects as well as financial implications of regularising the contractual employees.

He said that the sub-committee had referred the matter to the law department whose response was still awaited.

The law officer submitted that the competent authority had yet to take a decision in the cabinet with regard to the regularisation of contractual employees of development scheme of the livestock and fisheries department.

The high court allowed the petitions and observed that the appointments of the petitioners in the respondent department were based on the process that was substantially and tangibly fair and within the parameters of its applicable rules and regulations, through the competitive process on merit.