Not fair: LHC reserves verdict on plea against forced retirement

Replies sought from federal and provincial governments over jobs for visually-impaired people.


Our Correspondent June 13, 2015
PHOTO: LHC.GOV.PK

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Friday reserved verdict on the maintainability of a petition filed by 12 judicial officers challenging their forced retirement ordered by the court’s administration committee.

The petitioners include additional district and sessions judges, senior civil judges and civil judges of the Punjab district judiciary. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who was hearing the case, was told that Section 12 of the Punjab Civil Servants Act 1974 violated the Constitution.

The officers said they had not been given a chance to explain their side of the matter and this was a violation of Article 10 of the Constitution. They asked the court to strike down Section 12 of the Act as being unconstitutional and to order their reinstatement. Justice Shah heard the arguments and reserved verdict on the maintainability of the petition.

Visually-impaired people’s jobs

Lahore High Court issued notices to the federal and Punjab governments on Friday on a petition requesting that the prime minister’s and the president’s salaries be withheld till visually-impaired people were given jobs.  Advocate Azhar Siddique, representing the Judicial Activism Panel, filed the application saying there were 4,000 vacancies in the Punjab and 3,500 in the federal government. He said the governments were not willing to provide the disabled jobs despite their protests. The petitioner said that governments were responsible to provide employment to the disabled under the three per cent quota. He asked the court to order a halt on payment of salaries to the president and prime minister till the visually-impaired people were given jobs. The court directed the federal and provincial law officers to submit the governments’ replies on June 19.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2015.

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