LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has directed the federal government to frame new rules before the next Central Superior Services (CSS) examination to give a fair chance to persons with disabilities to become a part of the ‘All Pakistan Service’.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah passed this order while issuing a detailed judgement on petitions of two successful (CSS) candidates who were denied posts in their preferred groups of service.

Petitioners Muhammad Yousaf and Faisal Majeed had secured 22nd and 12th positions respectively in the 2014 CSS examinations and preferred the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP).

However, they were allotted posts in Information Group.

The government took a stance that under Rule 9(ii) of CSS rules, a candidate with disabilities, in order to be allocated in FSP, has to fall within 7.5pc all-Pakistan merit quota and otherwise can only be considered for four groups — Commerce & Trade Group, Pakistan Audit & Accounts Service, Information Group and Postal Group.

The chief justice ruled that neither the Constitution nor the Act or the Ordinance permitted or supported such a classification, “hence Rule 9 (ii) is devoid of any reasonable classification and is therefore discriminatory, offending Article 25 of the Constitution.”

He observed that instead of providing facilitation or equal opportunity, Rule 9(ii) is an impediment in mainstreaming persons with disabilities in our society.

He stated that it’s painful to observe that a person with disability was first allowed to sit the competitive examination on a par with others, but when he scored and was entitled to allocation in FSP in the provincial quota, he was denied the same on the pretext that he could only avail the All Pakistan merit quota of 7.5pc. “Logic and wisdom, if any, behind this exclusion totally fails me,” the chief justice observed.

Justice Shah said the federal government seemed to have missed out on the understanding of the constitutional values and fundamental rights. “The government is also not aware of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or Convention), which has been duly ratified by Pakistan in 2011.” He said the government had failed to show that efforts were made to mainstream disabled persons into CSS.

“The State and its institutions are under a constitutional obligation to go the extra mile and ensure, within the means available, that persons with disabilities get reasonable accommodation in order to enjoy their fundamental rights in the same manner enjoyed by other citizens of Pakistan,” the CJ observed.

He ruled that persons with disabilities had all the right to apply for all categories of posts, unless, the federal government, while strictly adhering to the requirement of the Constitution and the Convention, had solid reasons, supported by data, to exclude persons with disabilities from a particular category of service.

“It must be remembered that exclusion of a person with disabilities from any form of employment is an exception rather than a rule,” the judge maintained in his 30-page verdict.

The verdict says, “Rule 9(ii) of CSS Rules is declared to be unconstitutional and without lawful authority and is hereby struck down.”

The chief justice directed the government to allocate two seats to the petitioners in the FSP at the earliest and if no such posts are available then create two new posts to adjust them in order to uphold their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution and to redress the unconstitutional deprivation they have faced since 2014.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2017