Daily Times

The Supreme Court has suspended two significant decisions of the Sindh High Court following an appeal by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).

The appeal was filed by SPSC challenging the Sindh High Court’s directive to conduct interviews for certain unsuccessful candidates.

A three-member bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard the case.

SPSC’s counsel, Hafiz Ehsan Khokhar, informed the court that in 2021, 22,877 candidates appeared for the combined competitive examination conducted by the commission. Of these, 186 candidates passed the written exam and were subsequently interviewed.

However, the Sindh High Court, acting on petitions from some unsuccessful candidates, ordered oral interviews for 11 such candidates.

The counsel argued that under the law, marks cannot be increased after the written exam, and granting oral interview opportunities to unsuccessful candidates would undermine the merit and transparency of the commission’s process.

Hafiz Ehsan Khokhar further contended that the High Court’s intervention was an unnecessary exercise of authority, jeopardizing not only the commission’s credibility but also the future of successful candidates.

Based on these arguments, the Supreme Court suspended both decisions of the Sindh High Court.

SC rejects petition regarding equal treatment of all prisoners

The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has rejected a petition regarding treating all prisoners by the Pakistan Prison Rules 1978 without any special privileges or preferential treatment.

The six-member Constitutional Bench, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan heard the petitions of Chaudhry Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Saeed and Muhammad Awais versus the Federation of Pakistan through the Secretary, Ministry of Interior.

The Court, while maintaining the objections of the Registrar SCP office over the maintainability of the petition, rejected the plea observing that it is not the job of the Supreme Court to oversee facilities provided to the prisoners.

Additional Attorney General for Pakistan, while agreeing to the objections of the registrar’s office, argued before the court that the petition seemed to be personal.

Justice Jamal Mandokhail advised the petitioner to approach the provincial government or concerned High Court if he has objections over the rules.