LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has declared the appointment of a son of the director general of the Archeology & Museum, Islamabad, in the same department a result of nepotism and against the basic principles of transparency.

Nausheen Akram having secured highest marks in written test held for the recruitment against a single post of assistant (BS-15), in the department was amongst the top five short-listed candidates to be interviewed.

The petitioner pleaded that she had been non-suited by the abuse of process as respondent DG Dr Abdul Azeem, who was also the chairman of Departmental Selection Committee (DSC), appointed his own son Umer Azeem.

An assistant attorney general rejected the allegations as incorrect and argued that the appointment of the respondent was made after fulfilling all codal formalities.

However, he did not deny that the appointed respondent was the son of the DG archeology.

The law officer argued that since the DSC comprised three members, therefore, it was not possible for the DG/the chairman to select his own son, on his wishes and whims.

Justice Anwaar Hussain, however, observed that in the formal decision-making process concerning recruitment and selection, the possibility that potential conflict of interest may arise cannot be ruled out.

The judge noted that the integrity of a selection panel like the DSC vested with power to award marks in interviews matters a lot.

He said it is expected that if any conflict of interest arises, the concerned member of the committee should recuse from the proceeding further in order to lend credence and maintain transparency and public confidence in the recruitment process, let alone heading the DSC as it happened in the instant case.

The lawyers for the respondents could not refute that the DG, who was the chairman of the DSC, never recused himself from the chairmanship of the committee constituted for conducting the interviews of the short-listed candidates, including his own son.

The judge observed that the mere fact that the DG never recused himself from heading the DSC before whom his son was to appear for interview offended the principle of transparency required for filling public posts.

The judge noted that the DG gave highest marks to his son in the interview giving him an advantage to occupy the single post as there was a close tie between the top five short-listed candidates, including the petitioner, who stood second by difference of two marks.

Justice Hussain observed that the question mark on the process of recruitment was obvious and the level of transparency prevailing in the DSC became acute in view of the fact that the petitioner had a masters’ degree as opposed to the son of the DG, who was a graduate.

The judge maintained that the interview process, on the face of it, was in violation of the principle of transparency and fairness.

The judge set aside the impugned appointment and ordered the department/competent authority to conduct fresh interviews of the top five candidates, who obtained the highest marks in the written test, through a new, independent and impartial DSC in accordance with law.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2023