1. GHULAM SAFDAR SHAH, J.--This petition for leave to appeal, which is directed against tae Division Bench judgment of Baluchistan High Court, dated 16-6-1977, arises in the following circumstances :-- Petitioner Abid Huseain and respondent No. 1, namely, Ghulam Rasool wore candidates for admission to one seat in Engineering College in Pakistan from Chaghai District. The record would show that both were residents of Chaghai District to which the said one seat was allotted and consequently they made applications to the Secretary Education, Government of Baluchistan. In due course their applications were scrutinised by a committee constituted for that purpose and in the result the committee accepted the application of petitioner and rejected that of Ghulam Rasool on the ground that he was not a bona fide resident of the Province. Being aggrieved, Ghulam Rasool filed in the High Court at Quetta, a Constitution Petition impugning therein the said order of the committee contending that he was a bona fide resident of Chaghai District since time immemorial but the committee did not take into consideration his plea on that point and rejected his application only because his father had been living at Sangarh (Sind) earning his livelihood. In the High Court Ghulam Rasool succeeded with the result that the petitioner's claim for admission to the Engineering College was held to be without any basis and instead the claim of Ghulam Rasool was upheld for admission to the said College. It is in this background that Abid Hussain has come to this Court praying that leave be granted to him against the impugned judgment of High Court.
2. On page 14 of the impugned judgment would be found the policy framed by the Government of Baluchistan in regard to the eligibility for admission to, educational institutions which reads as under:- "(a) Bona fide residents of the Province.
(b) Domiciles of Baluehista continuously living in the Province for the last 12 years and who have passed. Middle, Matric and F. Sc./B. So. Examination from an institution situated in Baluchistan.
3. This would however, not strictly apply to such domicile candidates whose father/guardian has remained out of the Province on account of his posting in service outside the Province and who has passed his Middle, Matric, F. So /B. Sc. Examination from an institution not situated in the Province."
4. The learned Judges in the High Court, in the light of this Policy, have gone through the rival claims of petitioner and respondent Ghulam Rasool with considerable care and only then concluded that the latter was a bona fide resident of Chaghai District. The learned counsel concedes that in so far as the merit of Ghulam Rasool is concerned he had obtained more marts than the petitioner. His objection, however is that Ghulam Rasool was not a bona fide resident of Chaghai District and, therefore, he would have no right to compete for admission to the Engineering College against the petitioner. I am afraid there is no force in this contention. The impugned judgment would show that in the High Court respondent had produced a copy from the revenue record (Annexure 'A') in which his father was shown to be possessed of agricultural lands in Chaghai District a certificate issued to him by the Political Agent (Annexure 'B') showing therein that he was a bona fide resident of Chaghai District another certificate issued to him by the Political Agent (Annexure 'C---) that in the year 1973-74 he and his brother Abdullah were given scholarships as they were considered to be bona fide residents of the said District 1 and a copy of the order of Political Agent, Chaghai (Annexure 'D') by which the application of one Abdul Baqi (who was also a petitioner in the High Court in Writ Petition No. 31 of 1977) challenging the bona floe residence of respondent Ghulam Rasool in Chaghai District, was rejected. The learned Judges also took into consideration the fact that. Although Ghulam Rasool had been educated up to Matric in the Province of Sind, on attaining majority he came over to Quetta where he continued his studies for the last three years.
5. As against this the petitioner herein, could not produce any evidence whatever that Ghulam Rasool was not a bona fide resident of Chaghai District. Proceeding on this basis and having already decided that the expression "bona fide residents", as used In the above policy of the Government of Baluchistan, would not mean that a person must be proved to have been living at all times in the Province, the learned Judges upheld the claim of Ghulam Rasool for admission to Engineering College against the one seat reserved for Chaghai District in preference to the petitioner who had admittedly secured lesser marks than him in the Intermediate Examination.
6. It would thus be seen that the finding of High Court is a finding of fact, based on proper evidence, and so it would not be open to review in these proceedings. The learned counsel, however, placed before us a copy of the orders of the Selection Committee, dated 11-2-1977, and contended that by rejecting the application of respondent Ghulam Rasool the finding of the Committee also would be a finding of fact and so the High Court would hive no jurisdiction to interfere with that finding. By going through the order of the Committee, however, all that has been mentioned against the name of Ghulam Rasool is "Appealed against Abdul Baqi. Rejected as he has been educated in Sind". Now this laconic finding which is based only on the fact that Ghulam Rasool had been educated in Sind, cannot be said to be a finding of fact so as to prevent the High Court from interfering with it in its constitutional jurisdiction-especially when Ghulam Rasool was able to produce substantial evidence to supports his claim that he was the bona fide resident of Chaghai District.
7. This petition fails and is dismissed.