MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has filed a petition for an urgent hearing of the case related to the abolition of the quota system in government services in the Supreme Court of AJK.
The petition submitted by the Advocate General of AJK has taken the stand that the case is sensitive in nature, while its next hearing has a long date fixed, hence it should be heard urgently.
The matter came before the Supreme Court when appeals were filed against the August 16, 2025, judgment of the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which ordered the abolition of the quota system for government jobs.
In a landmark verdict, the High Court declared the decades-old quota system for post-1989 refugees unconstitutional and discriminatory.
Justice Sardar Muhammad Ejaz, in a detailed 65-page judgement, declared that all notifications and rules enforcing quotas in government services and professional institutions were “repugnant to the AJK Interim Constitution, 1974, violative of fundamental rights, and against the injunctions of Islam.“
The decision on the petition’s approval or rejection will be made after the Advocate General’s appearance in the Supreme Court.
It should be noted that the interim stay order issued by the Supreme Court of AJK against the appointments to Grades 1 to 15 remains in force, which has suspended the ongoing recruitment process in government institutions.
The next hearing of the quota case has been fixed for April 30, while 17 appeals have been filed in the Supreme Court in this regard, which are in the process of completion.
The appellants argued that the abolition of the quota system could affect the rights of various sections, and further legal clarification was required in this regard.
During the preliminary hearing, the Supreme Court, after hearing the arguments, issued an order to temporarily stop the appointments to all non-journaled posts from Grade 1 to 15 and also issued notices to the parties.
As a result of the court order, the ongoing and proposed recruitment process in various government departments has been stopped.
It may be recalled that since the High Court judgment, there was a debate at the legal and administrative level on the procedure for appointments in government jobs, while the sensitivity of the issue has increased further due to the case pending in the Supreme Court.
