HYDERABAD - The Sindh High Court here on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Chairman Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) and suspended the Secretary SPSC for non-compliance of its order.
The Hyderabad Circuit Bench of justice Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Saleem Jessar expressed dismay over disregard for the court by the SPSC’s officials. The court was conducting a hearing of a petition concerning alleged irregularities in the appointments of the medical officers whose qualifying tests were conducted by the SPSC. “The secretary in spite of clear directions neither brought the complete record pertaining to the case in hand nor has sworn the affidavit as per spirit of the aforesaid order and further his conduct while addressing the court was deplorable,” reads the order.
As per the order, Secretary Syed Atharullah Shah would remain suspended until the next date of hearing while the chairman would have to submit Rs2 million bail amount to prevent his arrest. The SHC had ordered at the last hearing on April 1 that both the chairman and secretary should be personally present on Thursday’s hearing. They were also asked to bring the entire record of the appointments of the BS-17 medical officers and BS-17 women medical officers over some 1,783 posts advertised on July 19, 2018, recruited for the Sindh Health Department. `The secretary told the bench upon inquiry during the hearing that he had not brought the record and he also failed to justify the reason for non-compliance.
He apprised the court that the chairman SPSC was at the commission’s Hyderabad head office but he did not know why he did not attend the court.
The petitioner Dr Asma Makhdoom’s counsel advocate Sajjad Ahmed Chandio apprised the court that the written tests for the said posts were held on December 9, 2018. According to him, after advertising the posts on July 19, 2018, the SPSC issued a press release on November 14, 2018, and bifurcated the posts in question on the gender basis. As many as 1,337 posts were kept for male medical officers and 446 for females.
The result was announced in January, 2019, and, subsequently, interviews of the successful candidates were also conducted, he told adding that only 477 male candidates qualified the written tests and 302 in the interviews while against 446 posts of women medical officers, 434 candidates qualified.
The petitioner maintained through her counsel that some 1,047 seats still remained vacant and the commission after re-advertising those posted directly conducted interviews, declaring 945 candidates successful on September 16, 2019.
She prayed the court to declare that the procedure of the recruitment tests which was adopted by the commission as illegal and also that the appointments of the medical officers without written test were unlawful. She also pleaded the court to order that the bifurcation of posts on the gender basis was also illegal.
She sought her appointment against the vacant posts because she had qualified the written test and her result of interview was allegedly controversial. The SHC adjourned the hearing to April 22.