LHC orders govt to appoint teachers as per PPSC’s recommendations

The Lahore High Court on Tuesday ordered Punjab government and schools secretary to follow the recommendations of Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) regarding the appointments of 73 senior secondary teachers (SSTs), elementary schools teachers (ESTs) and district trainer educators (DTEs) as headmasters/deputy district education officers (DDEOs) in various districts of Punjab.
The court issued orders while concluding the hearing of different petitions filed by Ahmad Suleman and others submitting that they passed examination held by the PPSC for 314 announced vacancies of headmasters/DDEOs and were also declared successful in interviews held in August 2010, however the petitioners were not appointed on the ground that scrutiny committee found them incapable for the said posts. Lawyers Hafiz Tariq Nasim and Rana Asadullah Khan mainly representing the petitioners said that scrutiny committee had no legal sanctity unless it was constituted under the rules and definite role provided by the law. Counsels said that PPSC and secretary schools transgressed and misused their authority by establishing the scrutiny committee which had nothing to do with the selection procedure. In fact, the respondents abdicated their authority in the hands of unauthorized and unlawful committee, counsels added.