PESHAWAR: A man has challenged in Peshawar High Court the recent decision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to increase the number of attempts from three to four for candidates of Provincial Management Service (PMS) competitive examination for the years 2025 and 2026.

Mohammad Ahsan Khan has filed a petition in the high court, seeking a declaration that the decision of increasing the number of attempts/chances from three to four for the year 2025-2026 was unconstitutional, discriminatory and violative of the principle of natural justice.

The petitioner has sought directives of the court for the provincial government and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission to apply the increase in the number of attempts uniformly to all candidates, irrespective of the year of examination.

He has also requested that the respondents should ensure regular/timely conduct of exams for the ease of candidates and to avoid any injustice with any individual.

Petitioner terms one-time applicability of the decision discriminatory

The public interest petition filed through senior lawyer Shahid Naseem Khan Chamkani included the KP government through its chief secretary and KP Public Service Commission (KPPSC) through its chairman as respondents.

The petitioner stated that KPPSC was responsible for recruitment of government employees including PMS (BPS-17) officers. He stated that the eligibility criteria for PMS officers, as per the existing rules, included an age limit of 30 years, a bachelor degree and a maximum of three attempts to qualify the examination.

The petitioner said that on Feb 17, 2025, the provincial cabinet made a decision to increase the upper age limit from 30 to 35 years as a general relaxation and to increase the number of attempts from three to four as a one-time measure for the PMS examination to be conducted in 2025 and 2026.

He contended that the increase in the number of attempts only for the years 2025 and 2026 was arbitrary and discriminatory. He stated that through the said decision undue advantage was provided to a group of candidates while depriving others of the same benefit.

Explaining his stance, the petitioner stated that the changes had created a disparity among candidates as a candidate, who had exhausted all three attempts would be provided a concession of one extra attempt, whereas a candidate appearing for the first or second in 2025 would only have three attempts.

He contended that the differential treatment was unjust and violated the right to equality under Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The petitioner stated that the rationale provided for the increase in attempts and age limit was irregular conduct of exams, but that did not justify the selective application of the relaxation.

“If exams were not conducted regularly, the solution should be to ensure regular conduct of exams, as being conducted by Punjab Public Service Commission, rather than providing a temporary increase in attempts,” the petitioner suggested.

He contended that the selective increase in attempts for only two years raised concerns of favouritism and nepotism, as it may benefit certain individuals at the expense of others.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2025