Lahore - Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday ruled that no job quota will be allocated for any particular area of South Punjab.
Earlier, the LHC had issued a stay order against the allocation of nine seats for the backward areas of Punjab under the Provincial Management Services (PMS) Examinations being held by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). Before the stay order, the recruitments on nine out of 43 seats were being made under the quota allocated for the “backward regions” such as Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan etc.
The judge declared the notification issued in this respect as unconstitutional. The court directed Punjab government not to allocate 20 percent quota of jobs to any particular area or city of Punjab province.
On behalf of the petitioner, Sheraz Zaka argued that after 40 years no quota can be allocated to South Punjab areas as mentioned in the Article 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
After hearing the arguments, the court announced the verdict and allowed the petition by declaring the notification of Punjab government ultra vires and unconstitutional. The judge directed that the selection be taken place on open competition and merit and no area or city of Punjab would be allocated job quota. The judge directed that if the govt has to bring job quota, it will have to amend Article 27 of the Constitution.