GUJRAT: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday reinstated the 449 Service Centre Officials (SCOs) whom the Punjab Land Revenue Authority (PLRA) had terminated from service in 143 tehsils.

The court also stopped the authority from recruiting [new] SCOs against the posts that had been vacated due to the sacking of these officials.

Mr Justice Ali Baqar Najafi suspended the notification [of the PLRA director general] dated March 28, 2017, and directed 449 SCOs to join their jobs at the respective Computerised Land Record Centres (CLRAs) in tehsils.

The judge announced the interim order on the writ petition filed by the [terminated] officials through Advocate Ahsan Bhoon.

Orders PRLA to advertise remaining 145 slots

The LHC judge directed the PLRA to advertise the remaining 145 vacancies out of 594 [of SCOs], to be filled through National Testing Service.

These SCOs lamented that they were forced to reappear in internal evaluation test by PLRA as, according to them, neither the previously [recruited] officials nor almost 11 service centre in-charges (SCIs) appointed along with them under the same advertisement by the same management, had been terminated from service.

They alleged in their petition that they were being victimised in a ‘tug of war’ between the incumbent DG and former deputy director of the project.

Previously these 449 SCOs were interviewed and recommended by DCOs across Punjab, including PLRA DG who was said to be posted as Rahim Yar Khan DCO at that time.

However, final appointment letters were issued by then deputy project director Maqbool Dhawla [who is now under arrest in recruitment case of these SCOs] since the appointments were declared illegal by the PLRA DG.

It merits mentioning that PLRA had recruited almost 1,000 people, including service centre in-charges, managers, additional directors, on the basis of walk-in interviews and now these employees have been drawing hefty salaries (SCI, Rs73,000 per month, managers some Rs200,000 and additional directors Rs350,000). In another move, MPA Raheela Anwer of PTI has placed four assembly questions regarding recruitment in PLRA without any criteria and verification of degrees.

Soon after the short order, the SCOs distributed sweets at their respective centres to celebrate the decision [of their reinstatement].

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2017