The Federal Constitutional Court has held that public sector recruitment rules require eligibility terms that are plain, open and tied to the governing hiring regulations, so that no applicant is put at a disadvantage by a stretched reading of a fuzzy experience clause in a vacancy notice.
A two-judge panel led by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, sitting with Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, accepted the case of Musa Hayat, who had sought a junior clerk post, and cancelled a Peshawar High Court decision issued on 20 June 2023.
How the hiring dispute began
Case papers show the Provincial Housing Authority published openings for junior clerks, sub-engineers and related roles in the daily Aaj on 5 March 2022. Hayat applied for junior clerk, scored 56 in the written exam on 24 April 2022, and was invited to an interview on 31 May 2022.
He was still not selected, though others received posts. When officials refused his request for the merit list, he turned to the Right to Information Commission. On 13 July 2022 he obtained the list naming those recommended for appointment, then challenged his exclusion in the Peshawar High Court, which threw out his plea.
What the court examined
During arguments, the bench asked whether the notice set any specific experience bar for junior clerk. Counsel for the authority said experience appeared among the general conditions, yet could not clearly describe what that meant, which policy guided it, or how it was used against the pool of applicants.
The judges noted that whether training-period work counts as relevant experience cannot rest only on a job title. Decision-makers must weigh the actual duties, the applicable public sector recruitment rules, the policy in force, and the wording of the advertisement itself.
What recruiters must do next
The court directed that experience conditions be defined in unambiguous language and enforced evenly across all candidates. Because the authority had not properly answered Hayat’s grievance, the matter had to be judged against the original notice and the recruitment policy that applied.
Treating the petition as an appeal, the Federal Constitutional Court allowed it and wiped out the Peshawar High Court judgment, restoring the need for a fresh look under those standards.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 5 March 2022: Provincial Housing Authority advertises junior clerk and other posts in daily Aaj.
- 24 April 2022: Hayat scores 56 marks in the written test.
- 31 May 2022: He is called for interview.
- 13 July 2022: Merit list is released to him via the Right to Information Commission.
- 20 June 2023: Peshawar High Court dismisses his challenge; the FCC later sets that order aside.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Federal Constitutional Court ne kaha hai ke sarkari naukri ke elaan mein tajurbe ki shartein saaf honi chahiye. Agar elaan ghalat fahmi paida kare to applicant ko nuksaan nahi diya ja sakta. Musa Hayat ke case mein Peshawar High Court ka pehla faisla kharij kar diya gaya. Ab hiring departments ko har candidate par ek jaisi, wazeh shartein lagani hongi.
