Challenging legal status: IHC stays police hiring through NTS

Issues notices to federation, IGP.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has granted a stay on the hiring of police personnel through National Testing Service (NTS) till further order, acting on a petition challenging the qualification criteria and legal status of using the testing body during recruitment.

While issuing notices to federation and inspector general of the Islamabad Police (IGP), Justice Athar Minallah directed the interior secretary to appear in person if he fails to file a respond before the next hearing.

The court, on Wednesday, ordered a stay on the recruitment of assistant sub-inspectors (ASI) and constables in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police through NTS till further order.

Kazim Abbas had gone to the court arguing that NTS was a private organisation and had no legal standing to be involved in recruitment process. Besides, he stated, the qualification requirement for the post of ASI and constable was BA/BSC and Matriculation respectively in the advertisements, which was against Police Rules 1934.

While requesting the court to direct the federation and the police to refrain from using NTS and setting the educational qualification in line with Police Rules, petitioner’s counsel Mohammad Tayyub again questioned how a private firm could conduct tests for vacant government posts.

Tayyub further said that candidates were charged Rs650 by NTS for appearing in the test, and hundreds of thousands of people usually apply for such posts.

The bench questioned the legal status of NTS in the presence of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), saying it was a case of public interest. Moreover, it also surfaced that Lahore High Court (LHC) had already declared NTS testing illegal.

In his comments, Police Establishment Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Ashraf Zubair Siddiqui stated that under the government policy, NTS was selected to induct suitable candidates purely on merit.

Mir Afzal Malik, the counsel for NTS, stated that the issue rose before the court fell in the domain of the selection board of ICT police and NTS only had to execute tests at the instructions of the IGP.

On the legal status of NTS, Malik said that the LHC single bench judgment was pending adjudication before a divisional bench at the same court. NTS will continue operating as a private entity under the law and despite the LHC verdict, he said, LHC had assigned NTS to conducts tests for the appointment of judicial officers.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2015.