LAHORE - The Lahore High Court on Thursday reserved verdict on the maintainability of petitions challenging quota system for Central Superior Services (CSS) and seeking open merit so that every competent candidate could get posting.
During the hearing, the law officers on behalf of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan submitted their replies saying that instead of Lahore High Court the petitions fell under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
They said the LHC decision would infringe the right of candidates from other provinces in case of decision against the quota system on the filed petitions. They pleaded the court to dismiss the petitions for being non-maintainable.
Earlier, Hassan Shah and many other candidates of CSS had filed petitions pleading that a quota was allocated for the provinces under Article 47 of the Constitution for a period of 40 years. However, they said, the quota was still intact despite the expiry of the 40-year limit in 2013.
The petitioners stated that eligible candidates had been subjected to discrimination in the name of the reserved quota for the provinces. They prayed to the court to set aside the reserved quota of the provinces.
After hearing both sides, Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah reserved verdict on the maintainability of the petitions.