1. ' SHUJAAT ALI KHAN, J.--- By means of this petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, the petitioner has prayed that being daughter of a civil servant, who died during his service, 10 additional marks be awarded to her and her name be placed at serial No,2 of the Merit List prepared for appointments against the post of Elementary School Educator (E.S.E) in Government Primary School, Chatta Watta Tehsil and District Mianwali.
2. The resume of facts, as expounded from this petition, is that pursuant to an advertisement which got published by the District Coordination Officer/Chairman Selection Committee, Mianwali (respondent No,1) for recruitment against various vacancies in Education Department, Mianwali, the petitioner applied for the posts of Senior School Educators (S.S.E), Senior Elementary School Educator (S.E.S.E) and Elementary School Educator (E.S.E). By virtue of corrigendum published in daily "Nawai-e-Shar" in its issue dated 25-6-2009 it was announced that the candidates whose parents/spouse, being civil servants, either died during service or retired from government service on medical grounds would be awarded 10 additional marks and the candidates falling in the said category were asked to submit their applications along with relevant documents till 29-6-2009. In response to the said corrigendum, the petitioner moved an application before the Executive District Officer (Education), Mianwali on 10-10-2009 inter alia praying therein that she be awarded 10 additional marks on account of rule 17-A of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974 and Merit List be corrected accordingly. The petitioner's name having been omitted from the list of successful candidates of the above said three categories; she has filed the instant petition.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that mala fide on the part of the respondents is manifest from the fact that despite having fulfilled the requisite criteria, the petitioner has not been appointed against the posts for which she applied before respondent No,1; that the petitioner was awarded 6 marks instead of 8 marks being resident of Union Council Swance; that the respondents have not taken into consideration the past experience of the petitioner as she has not been given any marks on account of experience; that though name of the petitioner in Merit List of Elementary School Educator for Government Primary School, Chatta Watta, stood at serial No,2 but the respondents have illegally replaced her name with one Arshad Mahmood; that the petitioner has been deprived of 10 additional marks being daughter of a civil servant who died during his service and that the petitioner has been discriminated as many other candidates who got even less marks, as compared to the petitioner, have been appointed against the aforementioned seats. In addition to his oral submissions, learned counsel has also relied upon the case reported as "Sohail Khan and another v. Secretary Establishment Division Islamabad and another" (2004 PLC (C.S.)
2. 1466).
4. Conversely, learned Assistant Advocate-General, while referring to the report and parawise comments filed by the respondents, has argued that no illegality or, irregularity was committed by the respondents while preparing the Merit List for different posts; that the petitioner is not permanent resident of Union Council Swance rather she belongs to a village which falls within Union Council Rokhri, therefore, she is not entitled to additional marks on account of being resident of the same Union Council wherein the concerned school is situated; that since the petitioner did not possess the requisite experience in any Government School either Federal or Provincial, she is not entitled to additional marks on account of past experience; that the petitioner did not produce the death certificate of her father tending to establish that her father, being a civil servant, died during his service and that even otherwise the petitioner's father being an employee of Federal Government, her case is not covered under rule 17-A of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, thus she is not entitled to 10 additional marks.
5. I have given ardent hearing to the arguments put-forth by the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as by the learned Assistant Advocate General and have also minutely gone through the documents appended with this petition and that appended by the respondents along with their report and parawise comments. According to the Certificate issued by Naib Nazim, Union Council- 22 Rokhri (Mianwali) qua the residence of the petitioner, she is resident of village Tari Khel which falls within the territorial jurisdiction of Union Council Rokhari, Mianwali whereas the petitioner applied against the seats falling in Government Girls Primary School, Dera Qasim Khan Wala Chatta Wata and Government Girls Elementary School, Swance. The said institutions, according to the documents appended by the petitioner along with this petition herself, are situated within Union Council Swance, Mianwali. Thus, the claim of the petitioner for grant of 10 marks on account of being resident of the same Union Council is untenable.
3. ' Insofar as the petitioner's 'plea that she has not been awarded 10 additional marks on account of past experience is concerned, I am of the view that as per the Certificate produced by the petitioner herself to prove her past experience, she was neither appointed there nor she was being paid any remuneration from the government treasury rather she was working as Honorary Teacher, therefore, the stay of the petitioner in the F.G. Girls Middle School, Chaklala, if any cannot be considered at par with those who served any government institution after their routine appointments. This being the position, the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the petitioner on this point are hereby spurned.
4. ' Now coming to the petitioner's contention that while preparing Merit List for the post of Elementary School Educator in Government Primary School, Chatta Watta her name was substituted with one Muhammad Arshad Mahmood, I am of the opinion that even a cursory glance of the Merit List makes it abundantly clear that the said Muhammad Arshad Mehmood got 60.90 marks whereas the petitioner scored 59.25 marks in toto thus the petitioner cannot urge that the name of said Muhammad Arshad Mehmood was placed at serial No,2 in her place.
5. ' Now adverting to the most important point as to whether the benefit of rule 17-A of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974 is available to a candidate whose parent/spouse, died during service in a federal department or retired from the same on medical grounds, in my humble view reading of said rule would be conducive, which for the facility of reference is reproduced herein below:--- "Notwithstanding anything contained in any rule to the contrary whenever a civil servant dies while in service or is declared invalidated/incapacitated for further service, any one of his unemployed children, if any, may be employed by the Appointing Authority against a post to be filled under rules 16 and 17 for which he/she possesses the prescribed qualification and experience and such child may be given 10 additional marks in the aggregate by the Public Service Commission or by the appropriate Selection Board or Committee, provided he/she otherwise qualifies in the test, examination and/or interview."
6. ' A perusal of the fore-quoted rule brings it to light that one child of the civil servant, who died during service or was declared invalidated/incapacitated for further service and retired as such, is entitled to be appointed against the post which falls vacant due to his/her father's death. Now, the question which surfaces on scene for determination by this court is as to whether a person whose father was employed in a federal department and died during his service or retired on medical grounds is entitled to the benefit of the said rule or not. To respond to this query, we will have to refer to the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 as well as to rule 2 of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, as the words and expressions used in the said rules but not defined shall bear the same meanings as they bear in the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974. According to section 2(1)(b) of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974, a civil servant means--- "a person who is a member of a civil service of the province or who holds a civil post in connection with the affairs of the Province, but does not include---
(i) a person who is on deputation to the province from the Federation or any other Province or Authority;
(ii) a person who is employed on contract, or on work-charged basis, or who is paid from contingencies; or
(iii) a person who is a 'worker' or 'workman' as defined in the Factories Act, 1934 (XXV of 1934) or the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 (VIII of 1923.)."
7. Even a cursory glance of the afore-quoted section makes it crystal clear that the provisions of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974 are only confined to a person who is/was a member of a civil service of the Province or who holds a civil post in connection with the affairs of the Province and all the other categories, including those who were on deputation to the province from the Federation or any other Province or Authority, have been excluded.
8. ' To adjudge the application and extent of Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 where under the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, were framed, a reference can be made to its preamble which reads as follows:--- "Preamble.--- WHEREAS it is expedient to regulate by law, the appointment to, and the terms and conditions of the services of the Province of the Punjab, and to provide for matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto,"
9. A plain reading of the preamble makes it crystal clear that the same is only confined to the Civil Servants who were serving in the province of Punjab at the time of their death or retired on medical grounds and by no stretch of imagination the same can be made applicable to the children of a person who was serving in any federal department at the relevant time.
10. ' The preamble of an enactment is considered a legitimate aid in construing its enacting parts.
11. Further, the importance of preamble of a statute qua the application and extent of the enactment has been elaborately dealt with by the superior judiciary in the judgments reported as "The Murree Brewery Company Ltd. v. Pakistan through Secretary Government of Pakistan Works Division and 2 others" (PLD 1971 SC 279), "The State through Deputy Attorney-General v. Muhammad Amin Haroon and 14 others" (2010 PCr.LJ 518), "Iftikhar Hussain and others Government of Pakistan and others"
12. (2001 PCr.LJ 146), "Muhammad Hussain Patel v. Ghaffar Wali Muhammad and others" (PLD 1972 Karachi 421) and "Syed Akhlaque Hussain v. Habib Ismael Bajwa" (PLD 1969 Lahore 563).
13. Further, the rules and regulations applicable in one administrative organ of the State cannot be used for advantage or disadvantage of anybody in the other organ. Similarly, the provisions of a Federal Statute cannot be made applicable to the employees of Provincial Government. While considering the question of application of Sindh Judicial Service Rules, 1994, in the Province of Punjab, the august Supreme Court of Pakistan in matter of "Jahangir Sarwar and others v. Lahore High Court and another" (2011 SCMR 363) has inter alia held that:-- "* The Constitution itself contemplates passing of different laws for different provinces by their respective legislatures. The doctrine of reasonable classification is founded on the assumption that the State has to perform multifarious activities and deal with a vast number of problems*
6. By no stretch of imagination, Sindh Judicial Service Rules, 1994, can be made applicable in the Province of the Punjab for the reasons mentioned hereinabove. The petition being devoid of merit is dismissed and leave refused. "
14. Another universally acknowledged principle of Interpretation of Statues is that while interpreting a statute general meaning of a word should be construed. In the case reported as "Mst. Ubaida Manzoor v. Government of the Punjab and 4 others" (2012 PLC (C.S.) 101), a Full Bench of this Court, while discussing the question of interpretation of statutes, has inter alia held as under:--- "* While interpreting the statute or Rules made there-under, it is to be read by giving the words used by the Legislature or Rules Making Authority its ordinary, plain, simple and grammatical meanings. The meaning, which may render any portion of it, ineffective has to be avoided as the same would be against the settled principles of interpretation of statutes*".
15. ' This view has been fortified in the case reported as Justice Khurshid Anwar Bhinder and others v.
16. Federation of Pakistan and another (PLD 2010 SC 483) wherein it has inter alia been held as follows:--- "The words of a statute must, prima facie, be given their ordinary meaning. We must not shrink from an interpretation which will reverse the previous law; for the purpose of a large part of our statute law is to make lawful that which would not be lawful without the statute, or, conversely, to prohibit results which would otherwise follow. Judges are not called upon to apply their opinions of sound policy so as to modify the plain meaning of statutory words but where, in construing general words the meaning of which is not entirely plain there are adequate reasons for doubting whether the Legislature could have been intending so wide an interpretation as would disregard fundamental principles, then we may be justified in adopting a narrower construction. At the same time, if the choice is between two interpretations the narrower of which would fail to achieve the manifest purpose of the legislation, we should avoid a construction which would reduce the legislation to futility and should rather accept the bolder construction based on the view that Parliament would legislate only the purpose of bringing about an effective result The discussion made in the fore-going paragraphs leads me to indubitable conclusion that from bare perusal of the preamble to the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974, it is abundantly clear that the provisions of Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, are only confined to the children of those civil servants who at the time of their death or retirement on medical grounds II were in service of the Province of Punjab.
17. ' Even otherwise, the Federal Government has announced Assistance Package For Families of the Government Employees by virtue of Office Memorandum dated 13-6-2006 according to which the children of a person who died during service in a Federal department are entitled for employment against the post in BS-1 to BS-15 without advertisement. Since the petitioner is covered by the said Memorandum, she cannot claim any benefit while invoking the provisions of section 17-A of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974.
18. ' Insofar as the case-law cited by the learned counsel for the petitioner is concerned, suffice it to observe that the same is not applicable to the facts and circumstances of the present case inasmuch as in the said case the word 'civil servant' has been defined with reference to Civil Servants Act, 1973 whereas in the instant case the same has to be construed in view of the relevant provisions of Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 as well as Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974.
19. As a necessary corollary to the discussion made in the preceding paragraphs, I have no doubt in my mind to hold that the provisions of section 17-A of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, are not applicable to the children of the civil servants who died while serving in any Federal department or retired from the same on medical grounds.
20. Consequently, this writ petition being devoid of any force is dismissed.