' MUHAMMAD MOOSA K. LEGHARI, J---Through this petition filed under Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the petitioner has prayed for the following relief.
(a) The Honourable Court be pleased to declare that the respondents have no authority to drop the petitioner who has been selected after completing the required formalities, viz. Interview/Test, and his name also appears in the List of Appointment orders of Vaccinators at Sr. No,13 issued by respondent No,2.
(b) The respondents be directed to allow the petitioner to joint the post/service of the Vaccinators.
With all benefits/pay etc, with immediate effect.
2. Precisely stated the facts giving rise to the filing of this petition are that in pursuance of an advertisement for the post of Vaccinators which appeared in various newspapers the petitioner also applied for the said post. It is pleaded that the petitioner appeared in the Interview/Test held on 16-10-2004 and qualified the same. Consequently, the petitioner was selected and his name appeared at serial No,13 of the list of 30 condidates selected for the post as issued by Director General Health Services, Hyderabad. It is the case of the petitioner that out of those 30 selectees 29 persons were allowed to join duty but the petitioner was asked to wait. Subsequently to his utter surprise in his place one another person namely Altaf son of Niaz Hussain was allowed to join services as Vaccinator though the said person neither appeared in the Interview nor his name appeared in the list of selectees issued by respondent No,2. The petitioner, therefore, prayed that the action of respondent was illegal, malafide, against the rules and in violation of his fundamental rights as the name of the petitioner was dropped from the selectees without any rhyme or reason.
3. In pursuance of the notices the comments duly signed by respondent No,2. Were filed by learned Additional Advocate General, Sindh on 10-8-2005. In the comments it was admitted that the petitioner applied for the post of Vaccinator. It was further stated 2 posts were allocated for concerned U.C. It was decided that 2 names will be recommended for appointment while 1 will be kept for waiting so that in case any one fails to join, the name of the waiting candidate be considered. It is pleaded that 2 candidates namely Altaf son of Niaz Hussain and Qurban Ali son of Muhammad Siddique were Matric in 'B' Grade, therefore, they were selected whereas the present petitioner who was Matric in 'C' Grade, was considered for waiting list. It was admitted that the name of petitioner in the first list was mentioned at Serial No,13 but since he was not found on merit, as such, his name from the said list was dropped and the name of the person having the merit was included in his place. It was further pleaded that the name of petitioner was included in the list of 30 candidates erroneously thus his name was dropped and the name of Altaf son of Niaz Hussain was included being in higher Grade than the petitioner. It was further stated that the name of "Mr. Altaf son of Niaz Hussain was not included in the list erroneously.
' Respondent No,3 in his comments stated that the petitioner was not allowed to join duty because the respondent No,2 corrected the list in which name of petitioner was not included and, therefore, he was not taken on duty. Respondents No,3 further commented that the name of Altaf son of Niaz Hussain was included in the list of proposed candidates by respondent No,2. Respondents No,3 further commented that he has only obeyed the order of the competent authority as he was not appointing authority.
4. Respondents also placed on record the existing recruitment rules for the post of Vaccinators.
According to these Rules the Post of Vaccinator is to be filled by initial recruitment. Qualification as mentioned in these Rules is Matriculate and equivalent qualification from the recognized University/Board and Certificate in .Vaccination from a recognized Institute.
5. To substantiate the claim of the petitioner, a statement dated 20-10-2005 was filed on behalf of petitioner annexing therewith Dispenser's Certificate dated 20th June 2002, certifying that Abdullah son of Ghulam Hussain Uttero has passed the Dispensers' Examination held in December 1999, from Peoples' Medical College, Nawabshah, was placed on record along with the advertisement published for the said post.
6. We have heard Mr. Mehmood Ali Vistro, Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. Masood A. Noorani, Additional Advocate General, Sindh, perused the pleadings of the parties, and examined the material placed on the record.
6. In pursuance of our directions said Altaf Hussain son of Niaz Hussain appeared before this Court on 13-10-2005 and was heard. He informed the Court that he has not cleared the Dispenser's course.
7. Along with the petitioner, the petitioner has enclosed Photostat copy of the list showing names of 30 persons selected for appointment of Vaccinators which bears the signature of Respondent No,2.
The name of the petitioner appears at Serial No,13 of the list. Photostat copy of the list which bears the signature of respondent No,2 as admitted by him on 13-10-2005 is an undisputed document. It has been specifically pleaded in the petitioner that a stranger by name Altaf son of Niaz Hussain who did not appear in the Test/Interview was appointed in place of the petitioner. The perusal of the list clearly shows that it does not contain the name of Altaf son of Niaz Hussain.
8. The Rules for selection of the post which are placed on record by the respondents as well as the advertisement published in the .Newspaper 'clearly shows and specifically mentions that the person having qualified Dispenser's Course would be given preference. Certificate showing that the petitioner has qualified the Dispensers Course was placed on record and was not disputed by the respondents. Altaf son of Niaz Hussain who was appointed in place of the petitioner and appeared before us on 13-10-2005 was specifically asked as to whether he had cleared the Dispenser's Course or not, his reply was in negative and such assertion was recorded in the order dated 13-10- 2005. There is a bald excuse of error as evident from the parawise comments filed by respondent No,2. The list has not been denied but it has only been asserted that the name of the petitioner was incorporated in the list due to error. This assertion being without substance could hardly be given any credence.
9. Admittedly the petitioner is a qualified Dispenser, which was the requirement of the post besides passing of Matriculation. The petitioner is qualified dispenser while the person who was appointed in his place .Was not a qualified dispenser. The excuse given by respondents for not issuing the Appointment Letter to the petitioner was that he was hi 'C' Grade while the selected candidate was in 'B' Grade. This could not be deemed to be a valid ground for dropping the petitioner for the simple reason that it was not the requirement that an applicant must have passed the Matriculation in 'B' Grade. Even otherwise it is a matter of common prudence that a Vaccinator is required to be a qualified dispenser as the Grade in which the candidate passed the Matric would hardly be of any consequence.
10. Learned Additional A.G. In the circumstances could make only feeble attempts to plead the case of the respondents, as he was unable to controvert the factual and legal pleas raised on behalf of the petitioner, However, finally he had to concede that there was no legal justification to drop the name of petitioner from the list of selectees.
11. Honourable apex Court in the case of Govt. Of Sindh v. Raeesa Farooq 1994 SCM R 1283 was pleased to observe that the "provisions which confer fundamental rights on a citizen, whenever violated and complaint is made to a High Court about their violation, the Court must step into investigate such facts under the discretionary jurisdiction conferred on it under Article 199 and pass such order as may be found just, legal and equitable taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of each case."
12. The narrative of the facts and circumstances of the case in hand would make it abundantly clear that the action of the respondents was violative of the provisions contained in Articles 4, 18 and last but not the least Article 25 of the Constitution, which envisages that all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law. The provisions of Article 25 are analogous to the provisions contained in Article 7 of the Declaration of Human Rights. The Principles of equality before the law and of prohibition of discrimination is the essence of the rule of law and of human freedom.
13. Needless to assert that Article 18 proclaims that every citizen of Pakistan is entitled to enter upon any lawful profession or occupation, and to conduct any lawful trade or business. Honourable Supreme Court observed in Human Right's case reported in 1996 SCM R 1349, that irregular appointments made by the Government were prima facie violative of Article 18 of the Constitution.
Consequently authorities were directed to take immediate steps to rectify, so as to bring the practice of appointments in accordance with constitutional requirements.
14. For the reasons discussed herein above we are of the firm view that the petitioner was qualified to be selected for the post of Vaccinator. His name appeared in the list of selectees duly signed and authenticated by respondent No,2. No disqualification has been brought on record by the respondents to deprive the petitioner of the job for which he applied and was selected. The action of the respondents was obviously unjust, arbitrary, contrary to the recruitment rules and violative of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, thus of no legal effect. Consequently it is declared to be without lawful authority.
15. In result the petition is admitted and allowed. The respondent No,2 is directed to issue a Letter of Appointment in favour of the petitioner within a fortnight and submit such report to the Additional Registrar of this Court.
' Above are the reasons for the shoft order passed on 27-10-2005.