MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): The Azad Kashmir High Court has, in a landmark decision, restored the Third Party recruitment law 2021, after which all appointments above Grade 7 in all departments will be made through a third party on the NTS model.
The court clarified that this system aims to ensure transparency, merit, and eligibility so that there is no scope for any kind of bias or nepotism in recruitment.
The petition, moved by the AJK High Court Bar Association through senior attorneys Raja Amjad Ali Khan, Raja Sajjad Ahmed Khan, and Fayyaz Khan, alleges that the recently repealed law had been passed to create a just and competitive recruitment system through independent third-party testing agencies in accordance with constitutional provisions of guaranteeing equality and protection against discrimination in government employment.
The bar association argued that the 2021 legislation was overridden by Act XII of 2023 without prescribing any other open recruitment mechanism, thus opening the door to nepotism, favoritism, and arbitrary appointments in the public services, especially from Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 1 to 15.
The petition contended that the repeal contravened inherent rights protected by Articles 4, 8, 15, and 17 of the AJK Interim Constitution, 1974, and was not in accord with the policies of good governance and rule of law.
The petitioners urged the court to declare Act XII of 2023 as void, reinstate the Third Party Recruitment Act 2021, and instruct the government to bring BPS-1 to BPS-15 posts within its ambit. They also asked for the promulgation of rules under the reinstated Act and suspension of new appointments under the existing system until the case is determined.
As per the petitioners, a cabinet committee established after the government change in late 2021 had consistently suggested keeping the Third Party Recruitment Act unchanged, but the government paid no heed to them.
The petition had noted that earlier, departments like education and police had undertaken recruitments with the help of the National Testing Service (NTS), something that had been well appreciated by the people. The same neutral mechanisms, the argument went, should be employed in all departments.
The petition also called for ad-interim relief, asking the court to suspend the operation of the repeal act and enjoin the government from making any appointments in the challenged grades during the pendency of the case.
Vacation Judge Syed Shahid Bahar, to whom the petition was admitted, invited objections from the respondents on the application for interim relief by or before the next date of hearing.
