MULTAN: The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) on Monday started an inquiry into the issue of accommodating some employees of police department to appear for the fourth time in the [departmental] promotion examination.

According to rules, a candidate can appear thrice in the PPSC exams.

The complainants appeared before PPSC member Arif Mushtaq Chaudhry on Monday.

As per details, Muhammad Hashim, a resident of Layyah, Muhammad Tariq of Dera Ghazi Khan and Imran Yasin and Ghulam Murtaza of Muzaffargarh filed a petition with the Multan bench of Lahore High Court stating that they are serving as assistant sub-inspectors at different circles.

Some staffers move LHC against colleagues who availed fourth chance ‘in connivance with PPSC clerks’

They said they had applied for promotion to sub-inspector after an advertisement was published by the PPSC.

They stated after going through all the procedure they stood at 15 to 17 in the merit list.

The petitioners said other respondents including Sher Alam, Faisal Nawaz, Abdul Malik, Shahid Ali and Tayyab Ahmad also applied for the same post under the same advertisement despite the fact they were ineligible as they were availing themselves of fourth chance [to appear in the examination].

They said as per PPSC Rules 2015 “unless otherwise, prescribed by the government, a candidate appearing in written test/examination/interview shall be allowed to avail three chances only for each particular written test/examination/interview irrespective of the type or categories of the posts grouped in that examination.”

They said emails were sent by the PPSC to the applicants who already availed three chances stating that “your application has been rejected as you have already availed three chances for the post of sub-inspector (service quota) (BS-14)”, but the respondent police employees managed to get fourth chance ‘allegedly in connivance with the clerical staff of PPSC.’

The petitioners said they sent emails and approached physically to the PPSC chairman, but did not receive any satisfactory reply.

They requested the court to issue directions to the PPSC chairman to appoint them against the advertised post under departmental quota and the recommendations of the commission in favour of respondent police employees be cancelled.

Justice Aminuddin Khan directed the petitioners to contact the PPSC chairman within three days to file the review petition under section 56 of the PPSC Ordinance 1978. As per law, if the review petition is filed the chairman will not finalise the appointment of respondent police employees before the decision on the petition.

But the commission had already recommended promotions.

On Dec 13, PPSC Secretary Mirza Naseer Inayat wrote a letter to the Punjab IG and dispatched its copy to the Dera Ghazi Khan regional police officer stating that in compliance with the court orders the PPSC is rechecking the number of chances availed by the candidates recommended for the post of sub-inspector in DG Khan region.

“Therefore, it is requested not to issue offer of appointments to the recommended candidates for the said post till the clearance from the PPSC,” the letter concluded.

In the meanwhile, a notification of promotion [of the respondent employees] had been issued.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2017