Police recruitments: Court orders 20 per cent quota for locals

A petitioner had claimed that allocations for local residents was a constitutional right.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered that a 20 per cent quota in police recruitments be allocated for citizens having a local domicile.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui announced the verdict against petitions seeking a separate quota for persons with domiciles of the capital.

The court also directed authorities to initiate appointments for assistant sub-inspectors and constables in the capital force in line with the 20 per cent quota.

Earlier, petitioners went to court claiming that a quota was reserved for 600 vacant seats from all provinces excluding Islamabad.

In his petition with the court, Abdul Rehman through his counsel Raheel Khan Niazi had said that clause (b) of Article 1(2) of the Constitution defined the capital territories as separate from all other territories of the country.

The petition further said that denying the rights of those from the capital territory was a violation of the Constitution’s article.

The petition also stated  that judicial officers were appointed by reserving a quota for local domicile holders.

Quotas for provinces, minorities and women are all separately maintained, the petitioner’s lawyer stated, adding that Sindh maintained two separate quotas for rural and urban populations.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2015.