Briefly the facts of the case are that pursuant to an advertisement published in print media flashing vacancies of constables (BPS-05), the petitioner also submitted their application forms and on completion of process, the following category wise merit list was prepared and displayed on 30.05.2016:- Sr. No. Category Number of appointees 1 Open Merit 2065 2 Ex-Army men 2 3 Minorities 58 4 Female 176 While 115 candidates, including present petitioners were kept in the waiting list. Through this writ petition, precise grievance of the petitioners is that after issuance of merit list, some selectees were not issued appointment letters on the basis of non-verification of documents, for not having good antecedent and even for not having physical standards after examination by the medical board as required for the job and some selectees did not join after completion of all formalities for the reasons best known to them. A waiting list of 115 candidates including present petitioners was prepared, affixed and they were not offered appointments against the remaining vacant posts and the department published new advertisement to fill the vacant seats through fresh process.
2. It is argued by learned counsel for the petitioners that without challenging the merit list or the selection process, the petitioners have a straightforward case i.e. once the candidates who were offered appointments but they did not join, the seats became vacant and the petitioners who were admittedly on the waiting list and thus a vested right had accrued in their favour , must have been offered appointments. Therefore, without offering appointments to the waiting list candidates, new advertisement to fill in the vacant posts through a fresh selection process is not the legal course, rather it frustrates the basic purpose of preparation of waiting list. In support of his argument, the learned counsel placed reliance on the case "GOVERNMENT OF N.-W .F.P through Secretary , Education Department, Peshawar and others versus QASIM SHAH" (2009 SCMR 382) and "SUMARA UMAR AWAN versus CHANCELLOR GOMAL UNIVERSITY , D.I. KHAN and 4 others " (2014 PLC (C.S) 526 ).
3. On the other hand, it has been argued by learned law officer that waiting list will be valid for thirty days after display of final list and as the merit list was displayed on 30.05.2016, therefore, after 30.06.2016 the waiting list became redundant, as such, fresh advertisement was issued. In this respect, Stand ing Order No.06/2015 issued by Government of the Punjab, Police Department has been referred.
4. I have heard the arguments of learned counsel for the parties at considerable length and perused the record with their assistance.
5. As shall be seen from the above narration of facts and the arguments of learned counsel for the parties, no challenge has been thrown to the recruitment process, subject matter of this writ petition and precisely the question involved in this case is the effect of waiting list. Before proceeding further , a table is drawn hereunder to clarify the final position:- DETAIL OF RECRUITMENT OF CONST ABLES/LADY CONST ABLES NOVEMBER, 2015.
Sr.
No Recruited Remaining Remarks 1OPEN MERIT 1611156447 - 2WOMAN QUOT A 345 175 170 Unreserved (remaining seats to be filled by the male candidates)
3MINORITY QUOTA @ 15%115 52 63 63 Carry Forward 4EX-ARMY PERSONNEL QUOT A @ 10%230 2 228 As 10% of the vacancies is the maximum limit of recruiting ex- army personnel in the recruitment process, hence, the remaining seats to be filled through the general merit.
5TOTAL VACANCIES 23011793508- 63=44563 Carry Forward There is no second view that after exhausting the above procedure, if the seats against reserved quota (excluding those reserved for minorities) remain vacant, the same would convert into open merit and had to be filled accordingly. As is visible from the above table taken from the reply submitted by Capital City Police Officer, Lahore, after completing the process, for all intents and purposes, according to the above drawn table, the remaining posts against open merit would become 445, and here come the candidates who fell on the waiting list.
6. The argument of learned law officer with regard to 30 days' life of the waiting list after display of merit list, is to be seen in the light of Standing Order No.06/2015. Sections 22, 23, 24 and 25 are reproduced hereunder:- "22. MERIT LIST.
A merit list will be prepared by the Recruitment Board on the basis of marks obtained by a particular candidate in written test, family claims and interview .
Waiting list of 5% of the vacancies will be displayed along-with result of successful candidates which will be valid for 30 days after display of final list.
23. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION.
The District Police Officer shall send the requisite information of the successful candidates to the Addl: Inspector General of Police, Special Branch and also to the concerned Police Station of the District where the candidate resides.
The two offices i.e. Addl: IGP Special Branch and District Police Officer concerned shall put every effort to verify the personal character , academic certificates and other relevant facts of the successful candidates.
The verification reports shall be minutely scrutinized by the DPO before issuing appointment letters.
Candidates having criminal record or affiliation with any proscribed organization shall not be appointed.
24. MEDICAL CHECK-UP .
Initially selected candidates after verification of antecedents shall appear before a medical board. Call letters t the candidates at the residential address will be issued by the DPO concerned.
25. FINAL SELECTION/APPOINTMENT ORDERS .
Selection of candidates shall be based on merit. The selected candidates shall be allocated to respective Districts/Units according to their domicile and the vacancies available. The appointment orders shall be issued by the respective District Police Officers/competent authorities as the case may be.
Those candidates selected against the quota of SPU shall have to furnish a certific ate stating therein that they are willing to serve any where in the Province and as per terms and conditions laid down in their appointment letter ."
From bare perusal of para-22 above, it appears that in first part the merit list is to be prepared by the recruitment board on the basis of settled criteria and in the second part waiting list of 5% of the vacancies will be displayed along with result of the successful candidates and waiting list will be valid for thirty days after display of final list.
The authority issuing the Standing Order intentionally did not use the word "merit list" and it used the word "final list", which fact indicates that merit list is different from the final list. From paras 23, 24 and 25, it appears that after preparation of merit list, the DPO shall send requisite information of the successful candidates to the Addl: Inspector General of Police, Special Branch and also to the concerned Police Station of the District where the candidate resides and two offices i.e. Addl: IGP Special Branch and District Police Officer concerned shall verify the personal character , academic certificates and other relevant facts of the successfu l candidates and then this report will be scrutinized by the DPO before issuing the appointment letter . After successful scrutiny , the cleared candidates shall appear before a medical board after receiving call letters from the concerned DPO and then final selection will be made on successful completion of the process. This process clearly draws a distinction between merit list and the final list. Merit list is prepared on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in the written test, family claim and interview , whereas, final list is to be prepared after verification of antecedents of the candidates as per merit list, their medical checkup and then they will be allowed to join and at this stage final list shall be prepared, hence, there is a hell of difference between the merit list and the final list. From use of two words i.e. merit list and the final list in para-22 of the Standing Order , ibid, it becomes crystal clear that after completion of recruitment process as per merit list and after joining the candidates against their posting, the waiting list will come to surface. This fact is further clarified by the merit list itself which has been produced before this Court, wherein, it has been clearly mentioned that "This result is by no means final and if any of the candidates is found ineligible or his documents are found fake/forged, his result will stand cancelled." Hence, the list dated 30.05.2016 is only the merit list and not the final list and it could not be said that after thirty days of this list, the list of the waiting candidates would stand scratched.
7. Another aspect of the matter is that some of the candidates who were offered appointments on open merit, minority quota or even women quota, have been allowed to join their appointments in the year 2017. In this respect a chart has been provided by the respondents themselves and for ready reference the same table, showing order numbers, date of issuance, number of Constables and the dates of joining, is drawn hereunder:- {{IMAGE}} A perusal of the above chart shows that final appointment letters were issued to five candidates on 22.04.2017 and they joined on 26.04.2017, and on this date the above mentioned process from merit list was completed and then the final list had to be prepared. Thereafter, the period of thirty days would reckon for the waiting list candidates.
8. The question of status of the candidates figuring in the waiting list has been decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case "GOVERNMENT OF N.-W .F.P through Secretary , Education Department, Peshaw ar and others versus QASIM SHAH" (2009 SCMR 382) and "SUMARA UMAR AWAN versus CHANCELLOR GOMAL UNIVERSITY , D.I. KHAN and 4 others " (2014 PLC (C.S) 526 ), wherein, it has been held that:- "when some of the selected candidates do not join the service, such pots remain vacant and it was imperative for the department to have considered the remaining candidates for appointment against said posts. Such posts cannot be kept vacant till the next process of recruitment, if some of the selected candidates were still available on the waiting list."
Thus, it was concluded that failure of the department to appoint the persons from waiting list, was not in accordance with the fair practice of recruitment. The above verdict of the Apex Court was followed in the case "SUMARA UMAR AWAN versus CHANCELLOR GOMAL UNIVERSITY, D.I. KHAN and 4 others" (2014 PLC
(CS) 526), and it was held that drill of subsequent requisition in ordinary course to re-advertise the vacancy would on one hand frustrate the procedure adopted and on the other, would deprive successful candidates whose names appeared in the waiting list, and to whom a vested right had been accrued.
9. For what has been discussed above, the stance of the respondent department that waiting list would remain valid only for thirty days w.e.f. display of merit list, is nullity in the eyes of law. The list of waiting candidates will come to surface only after completion of recruitment process from the merit list and preparation of final list of the selected candidates who join their posting. Consequently this writ petition is allowed and the respondent department is directed to issue appointment letters to the petitioners and to all other remaining candidates whose names figured in the waiting list, on the ground of equality and good governance. However, they will be allowed to join subject to verification of their antecedents and other relevant documents and clearance of medical test, as required by law.