MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): A petition has been filed in the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) against the appointments and promotions made in the high court during the tenure of former Chief Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja.
The writ petition, moved by six civil society members, alleged that these appointments and promotions made between January 2025 to June 8, 2025, were against merit and High Court procedure.
Advocates Muhammad Waheed Arif and Khawaja Muhammad Akbar submitted the petition and named around 55 people, including senior officials, selection boards, and recent appointees respondent.
The petitioners have requested the High Court to constitute a high-level commission to investigate all these appointments and promotions and to take disciplinary action against those involved.
They also sought annulment of the appointments made to various posts and verification of educational degrees, documents, and certificates of all officers posted in the High Court during the former CJ tenure.
The petition claimed that appointments to vacant posts, including junior clerks and stenographers, were made without following the proper procedure.
Applications were invited through the National Testing Service (NTS) in 2020, but appointments were made through selection committees instead of NTS.
The petitioner highlights that some candidates who were appointed were not even eligible to apply for the positions. He claimed that an employee named Arsalan Zia was appointed despite not meeting the eligibility criteria at the time of the 2020 advertisement.
He further alleged that the selection process was manipulated, with posts being re-designated and qualifications being lowered to favor certain candidates. “The appointments were made as office coordinators instead of junior clerks, whose posts were not even advertised.”
The petitioners have requested the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to hear the case urgently.
It is pertinent that during the last few months of former Chief Justice AJK High Court Sadaqat Hussain’s tenure, large-scale appointments and promotions were made.
In the meeting of the Supreme Judicial Commission, reservations were expressed, and the notification of promotions was cancelled, while a committee was formed to review the appointments to vacant posts.
