' MUHAMMAD NASEEM CHAUDHRI, J.---We propose to dispose of the following two Intra-Court Appeals as identical questions of law and facts are involved therein:
(i) Intra-Court Appeal No, 144 of 1997: ' Board ofIntermediate and Secondary Education, Gulgusht Colony, Multan though its Chairman v.
Muhammad Baqir Ali Tatari.
(ii) Intra-Court Appeal No, 145 of 1997: ' Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Gulgusht Colony, Multan through its Chairman v.
Miss Kausar Nawaz.
2. In Daily 'Jang', Lahore published on 26-1-1997 an advertisement was got published by Professor Malik Abdul Jabbar, Secretary, Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan for the recruitment of different categories of officials. Muhammad Baqir Ali Tatari respondent in Intra- Court Appeal No, 144 of 1997 applied for Transport Supervisor in BS-11 alongwith others while Miss Kausar Nawaz respondent in Intra-Court Appeal No, 145 of 1997 applied for the post of Assistant (BS-11) alongwith others.
3. The Departmental Recruitment Committee comprised the following officers of the Education Department:-
(1) Prof. Malik Muhammad Nawaz Cheema, Chairman, Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan. ' Chairman
(2) Prof. Saeed Ahmad Awan, Director of Education (Colleges), Multan Division, ' Multan. Member
(3) Prof. Irshad Hussain Naqvi, Principal, ' Government College, Civil Lines, Multan Member
(4) Prof. Muhammad Sharif Babar, ' Controller of Exams, BISE, Multan. Member
4. According to the advertisement the Merit List was to be displayed on 6-2-1997 and the objections were invited from 6-2-1997 to 12-2-1997. The final Merit List was to be displayed on 16-2- 1997 on the Notice Board of the office while the appointment letters were to be issued on 23-2-1997.
5. The Recruitment Committee proceeded in the matter. The test/interviews were held and following persons were selected on merits:- ' Merit List for the post of Transport Supervisors (BS-11): (1) Muhammad Baqir Ali Tatari.
' Merit List for the post of Assistant (BS-11):
(1) Ms. Kausar Nawaz/Muhammad Nawaz.
(2) Mr. Asim Imtiaz/Imtiaz Ali.
(3) Mr. Farid Sharif/Sharif-ud-Din.
(4) Mr. Muhammad Akram/Muhammad Moosa.
(5) Mr. Zahoor Ahmad/Hussain Bakhsh.
(6) Khurshid Ahmad/Nazar Ali.
(7) Mr. Muhammad Hanif/Wahid Bakhsh.
(8) Ms. Farzana Kausar/Rab Nawaz.
6. As advertised the Merit List was displayed on the Notice Board of the appellant on 16-24993 after observing all the formalities. The appointment letters were to be issued by the appellant and collected by the selected respondent on 23-2-1997. However, Letter No, PS/ES/880/97, dated 22-2- 1997 was issued by the Government of the Punjab Education Department that no further appointment letter in the Education Department shall be issued until further orders and the order had to take the immediate effect.
7. The respondents namely Muhammad Baqir Ali Tatari and Miss Kausar Nawaz alongwith other selectees went to the office of the appellant on 23-2-1997 to fetch appointment letters when they were refused in the matter on the basis of the ban imposed through the aforesaid letter dated 22- 2-1997. They filed the Constitutional petitions on the ground of infringement of their fundamental rights seeking the direction against the appellant for the issuance of appointment letters in their respective name. In the writ petitions the appellant as the respondent submitted the comments wherein it was mentioned that the posts were vacant, that the applications were invited through advertisement and that the respondents were selected. However, the exception taken was to the effect that the ban was imposed vide Letter No,PS/ES/860/97, dated 22-2-1997 with effect from 22- 2-1997 whereby no appointment letter could be issued.
8. After hearing the parties learned Single Judge expressed the view that the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan being a statutory and autonomous body is not hit by letter dated 22-2-1997 which relates to the recruitment in the Education Department and not to the Intermediate and Secondary Education Board. Both the writ petitions were accepted and the direction was issued to the appellant to give appointment letter to the writ petitions/respondents in both the Intra-Court Appeals.
9. Feeling aggrieved Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan has preferred both the aforesaid appeals which are being disposed of through this consolidated judgment.
10. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and gone through the record before us. The main contention of the learned counsel for the appellant is that letter dated 22-2-1997 is applicable to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan as the letter has also been addressed to The Chairman, B.I.S.E., Lahore/Rawalpindi/Gujranwala/ Multan/Sargodha/Bahawalpur/D.G. Khan/ Faisalabad, whose administrative control is under the Education Department of the Government of the Punjab, Lahore and that the letter has been issued by the competent officer namely Mr. Tasneem Noorani, Secretary, Education, Government of the Punjab,. Lahore. He maintained that the appointment letters were to be issued on 23-2-1997 and the ban about the recruitment having been imposed through the aforesaid letter dated 22-2-1997 the writ petitioners/respondents did not acquire any legal and fundamental right. On the contrary learned counsel for the respondents in the Intra-Court Appeals/writ petitioners laid the emphasis that the proclamation about the recruitment was published on 26-1-1997 when the Care-Taker Government was in power and that the petitioners were selected on merit. He continued that the Merit List was displayed on the relevant Notice Board and thereafter the recruitment was banned through letter dated 22-2-1997 which was received in the office of the appellant on 1-3-1997 in view of the clear writing of the Chairman on the same. According to him after the selection of the respondents through the competitive examination i,e, test and interview before the ban was imposed by the Government they had earned a valuable Constitutional right for their appointment and that the learned Single Judge has rightly accepted the writ petitions. According to the learned counsel for the respondents/writ petitioners learned Single Judge has rightly expressed the view that letter dated 22-2-1997 is not applicable to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in the Punjab as the Boards are the Statutory and Autonomous Bodies and the letter dated 22-2- 1997 related to the recruitment in the Education Department.
11. In our view the reasoning adopted by the learned Single Judge is correct and we approve the same. On additional grounds the writ petitions had to be accepted and the defiance of the appellant i,e, respondents in the writ petitions that due to the ban imposed through letter dated 22- 2-1997 the appointment letters could not be issued need not be given the weight. At the very outset we would express that the provisions of Article 199 of the Constitution of 1973 conferred very wide powers of High Court for enforcement of fundamental and legal rights and the remedy for the infringement of fundamental and legal right of a person has been provided therein. However, the condition precedent to the granting of any relief under said Article 199 of the Constitution depends on existence of fundamental and legal right of a person and infringement of such right which should be a personal and individual right. The legal right may be a statutory right recognized by law. A person could be said to be aggrieved when he has been denied a legal right by someone who has legal duty to perform relating to that right. In the instant matter, the admitted facts are that according to the advertisement published on 27-1-1997 in the Daily 'Jang', Lahore the writ petitioners/respondents submitted the applications. They competed in accordance with law. They appeared in the test and interview. They were admittedly selected by the Departmental Recruitment Committee. The Merit List in the matter was displayed in the matter on 16-2-1997 after removal of objections i,e, before 22-2-1997 on which date the ban was imposed on the recruitment.
Our view is that it was done with mala fide intention because the appointment letters/orders were to be handed over to the selectees on 23-2-1997. Our confirmed view is that on 16-2-1997 i,e, before 22-2-1997 the writ petitioners/respondents of these Intra-Court Appeals along with the other selectees had acquired a valuable fundamental right for entry in service on the basis of their success in the test and interview conducted by the Departmental Recruitment Committee according to the rules. We must express that Pakistan is an Islamic Democratic Country where there is a Constitution providing the fundamental rights to the citizens. The objections are raised about the recruitment of the persons without merit during the political regime(s) and we need not mention more than that lest the same may not prejudice any person or political party. However, the writ petitioners were selected on merit during the days of the Care-Taker Government when the aforesaid type of allegations could not be levelled and particularly about the aforesaid type of posts. It shall not be out of place to express that the aforesaid letter dated 22-2-1997 was received in the office of the Chairman on 1-3-1997 which fact stands projected from a perusal of the writing on the same. Thus, it can safely he held that all the candidates recruited by the Departmental Recruitment Committee against all the posts mentioned in the advertisement published in Daily 'fang', Lahore on 26-1-1997 are to be honored by the appellant. It shall not be out of place to express that the appellant should keep in mind that by his act as well as by letter dated 22-2-1997 many of the selected persons may become overage without no fault on their part and this aspect of the fact has also to be considered for their salubrious future. We must give our mind that uninfluential persons of the category of the writ petitioners and other selectees with them who were selected during the tenure of the Care-Taker Government cannot be denied their fundamental right through the issuance of aforesaid letter dated 22-2-1997 which was received in the office of the appellant on 1-3-1997 and the same is also declared to be illegal, mala fide, void and inoperative to that extent. In the Islamic State of Pakistan every person desirous of earning the livelihood by the dint of hard labor is entitled to all the honor which has been provided by the Constitution. The writ petitioners are struggling hard to enter in the service to provide bread and butter to themselves and their family members. They have been selected and the appellant as well as the Provincial Government cannot deny their right by closing the door of employment to them. We, therefore, hold that the writ petitioners are entitled to be appointed against the posts for which they have been selected. At this stage we shall be glossing over an important aspect of the matter by expressing that only two selectees namely Muhammad Baqir Ali Tatari and Miss Kausar Nawaz have entered the portal of this Constitutional Court even though other two persons have also been selected along with Miss Kausar Nawaz for the post of Assistant (BS-11). Our view is that to enter into litigation has never been liked in the society. We, therefore, hold that the other two selectees namely Mr. Asim Imtiaz and Farid Shard placed at Serial Nos. 2 and 3 on the Merit List along with Miss Kausar Nawaz after their selection by the Departmental Recruitment Committee are also entitled to enter in the service and to join the same.
12. On the basis of the aforesaid reasoning, in consequence, we hold that the aforesaid persons are entitled to join the service through the issuance of the appointment letters in their names.
13. We, therefore, dismiss both these Intra-Court Appeals and direct the appellant to issue the appointment letters within a period of thirty days from today to the writ petitioners and the aforesaid two selectees namely Asim Imtiaz and Farid Sharif alongwith Miss Kausar Nawaz. If bpth of them or any of them shall not join the next person(s) on the Merit List shall be offered the job who shall be entitled to join the service. The aforesaid persons shall join their duties subject to fulfillment the legal and procedural requirements. The notices shall be sent to them for doing the needful. The issuance of appointment letters to all the aforesaid selectees against all the posts shall be intimated to the Additional Registrar of this Court within forty days. Both the Intra-Court Appeals are dismissed with costs.