RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Thursday directed the higher education department Punjab to regularise the services of 70 women lecturers working in the garrison city for about 15 years.

Justice Shahid Jamil Khan issued the direction on a contempt petition filed by the lecturers against the education department for not complying with the high court order passed in 2012 for the regularisation of their services.

To a question, the secretary PPSC told the court that the department intended to regularise the services of the teachers under one-person one-seat formula. Under the formula, the PPSC had reserved the right to declare any candidate fail.

Under the formula, the PPSC had directed the lecturers to file affidavits before appearing in the examination, assuring the commission that they would not challenge its decision.

During the course of hearing, Justice Khan asked the secretary PPSC as to why the commission had asked the candidates to submit affidavits.

The court observed that no citizen could be deprived of their right to challenge any decision.

Hassan Maan, the counsel for the lecturers, said the higher education department had been flouting the court’s earlier order by not regularising the services of the lecturers. He said the PPSC had nothing to do with the regularisation of the teachers.

The secretary PPSC said the department had no objection to the regularisation of the lecturers’ services.

The secretary higher education also informed the court that the department had no issue in regularising the services of the teachers after a scrutiny of their educational credentials and checking their service record.

After the assurance, the court dismissed the case and directed the higher education department to regularise the services of the lecturers.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2014