PHC moved against judicial appointments

PESHAWAR: The appointment of 120 civil judges and judicial magistrates for various districts of the province was challenged in the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
A Peshawar-based lawyer Waheedullah challenged the appointments in the high court through his lawyer Aminur Rehman Yousafzai.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through chief secretary, provincial secretary Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, chairman KP Public Service Commission and directress examinations, KP Public Service Commission were made parties in the petition.
It was mentioned in the petition that the high court after about seven years invited applications for 77 vacant positions of Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate/Alaqa Qazi on October 3, 2013.
The petition said that the petitioner being qualified applied for one out of the said posts.
It said that the petitioner was astonished to know about another advertisement issued on October 22, 2015 of KP Public Service Commission, whereby applications for 120 vacant positions of Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate/Alaqa Qazi, have been invited, but with different eligibility criteria.
After the Supreme Court’s decision setting aside the PHC decision regarding appointments of the judges of sub-ordinate judiciary by the high court, the Public Service Commission again advertised the civil judges/judicial magistrate posts with certain conditions.
The Public Service Commission set two years experience of the high court for the lawyers who wanted to apply for the posts.
As per the first advertisement issued by the high court, the petitioner was declared eligible for the post, but he became ineligible in the fresh Public Service Commission advertisement as he had not completed his two years experience as high court lawyer.
However, the petitioner claimed that the provincial government condition of two years experience as high court lawyer was against the decision of the Supreme Court.
He said that the apex court had stated in the decision that the high court would decide to set two years experience.
The petitioner also questioned in the petition that whether applicants who have already applied for the post of civil judges advertised by the high court should apply afresh to the Public Service Commission.
It was stated that the provincial government notification issued on August 26, 2015 has given birth to a complex situation, besides direct impact upon a particular class of law graduates of KP and Fata, by depriving them to appear in the forth coming examination for recruitment of 120 Civil Judges/Judicial Magistrate/Alaqa Qazi.
Despite the fact, it said, the petitioner and other candidates were already declared eligible for the said posts by the high court. However, their eligibility was done away under the shelter of the notification.
The petition said that the KP Judicial Service Rules 2001 had drastically been amended in very clandestine and surreptitious manner without care and caution of future of hundreds of law graduates of KP, including the petitioner, and Fata, who have already been declared eligible by the high court for the posts.