The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) is likely to file an intra-court appeal challenging a single-bench verdict of the Lahore High Court (LHC) which set aside the advertisement made by the PPSC wherein the upper age limit concession was denied to private applicants, Pakistan Today learnt on Wednesday.
A few applicants requested the LHC recently to get concession in the upper age limit for different posts and vacancies sought to be filled by the Service and General Administration Department (S&GAD). The petitioners contended that the posts advertised this year allowed upper age concession only to civil servants, which was a discrimination and violation of the constitution.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the LHC set aside the advertisement made by the PPSC last Monday wherein the upper age limit concession was denied to private applicants. In the detailed judgment, the court nullified the advertisement and directed the additional chief secretary (ACS) to re-evaluate and re-determine the upper age limit through a speaking order after consulting all stakeholders and issue a fresh advertisement.
However, sources privy to the development said the PPSC was likely to appeal in the LHC against the verdict, as delaying the process would cause “administrative inconvenience”. “Exams will be held in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi simultaneously and all arrangements such as booking halls in institutions with furniture have already been made to accommodate more than 18,000 candidates,” the sources added.
They further said according to the court directives, the ACS would arrange personal hearings of stakeholders and decide the case. “The matter will be delayed further if the ACS does not deem fit to give age relaxation because, then again, the candidates will go back to the court to settle the issue causing further delay,” they said, adding that the entire process would be halted if the PPSC goes for an intra-court appeal.
This has put the fate of more than 18,000 applicants in balance as the exam schedule announced earlier, from September 7 to September 20, has been set aside by the court while the authorities concerned do not seem willing to issue age relaxation. A PMS candidate, on the condition of anonymity said, “Provisional age relaxation was issued once in 2006, and again in 2008 by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as a one-time relaxation. Not everyone can approach the CM and get the age relaxation, common man can only move the court to get relief in such cases. The exams are already so tough and such delays only add up to our anxiety. Those at the helm of affairs should either never set such a precedence or should allow it for common people as well.”
PPSC to challenge LHC verdict on age limit concession
