LAHORE - The Lahore High Court on Tuesday set aside one-time policy of Public Service Commission made to determine age eligibility of applicants for the posts of Assistant District Public Prosecutors (ADPP) retrospectively.

Justice Ayesha A Malik passed the order on petition moved by a number of applicants including Sirajur Rehman. The judge observed that the discrimination could not be allowed on the basis of ongoing practice of the commission. The impugned policy made by the PPSC in October 2016 was not made public before the recruitment process, the judge further observed.

Earlier, the petitioners argued that the PPSC advertised the posts of ADPP on Aug 24, 2017 and set Sept 14 as closing date for submission of the applications and fixed January 1, 2017 as cut-off date to determine the age eligibility of the candidates. They said that they attained the minimum age limit of 25 years on Sept 14, the closing date but remained underage as per the cut-off date. The age policy set by the commission was discriminatory in nature and violation of the fundamental rights, they submitted and requested the court to set aside the policy said and declare them eligible for the posts.

A law officer representing the commission said that the other candidates could be prejudiced if the cut-off date is changed from January 1, 2017 to Sept 15, 2017 as they would become overage on the said date. The bench, after hearing both sides, set aside the impugned policy of the commission.