QUETTA: A two-judge bench of the Balochistan High Court heard on Monday a petition filed against the ban imposed recently by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on fresh recruitments in government departments.

Justice Jamal Khan Man­do­khail and Justice Kamran Mulakhail heard the appeal filed by Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Kamran Murtaza, and Additional Advocate General (AAG) Mir Shaheq Baloch appeared before the court.

Citing Article 4 of the ECP, Justice Mandokhail said the commission had the authority to ban all new recruitments after announcing the schedule for general elections.

“Do you want to get un-approved development schemes in the province approved?” the judge asked Kamran Murtaza.

The counsel replied in the negative, saying he had no such intentions.

However, he argued, the ECP ban on recruitments was tantamount to pre-poll rigging as the electoral body had no rights over development funds and new recruitments.

Addressing the AAG, Justice Mandokhail inquired about plans for any new recruitment drive, and asked if the government had arranged for paying salaries of new recruits for the next five years.

Mr Baloch said the government had finalised all preparations for new recruitments.

Mr Murtaza pointed out that the ECP could not take away the government’s mandate before the end of its tenure on May 31.

He alleged that the ECP was acting unprofessionally. “First, they accused us of pre-poll rigging, and now they have banned new recruitments in all government departments.”

At this, Justice Mandokhail pointed out that appointing 50 families was tantamount to an election campaign, and it had already been picked up by the media.

The judge supported his observation by asking the petitioner if friendly gestures were not a way to influence voters. “If you invite me for dinner or lunch just before the elections, I would probably be grateful enough to remember your kind­nesses when I am casting my vote.”

At the end of 2016, the then chief secretary of Balochistan, Saifullah Chattha, had — during the tenure of Nawab Zehri as CM — revealed that there were 35,000 unfilled vacancies in the public sector across the province. Many vacancies had remained unfilled for a long time and were in danger of lapsing as government posts have set deadlines.

Kamran Murtaza argued that these posts would have been made public a long time ago, had these not been for the bureaucracy using the vacancies to extend employment as personal favours.

AAG Baloch informed the court that the director general treasury had told the petitioner that the recruitment problem was set to become bigger by the end of June as more positions became vacant.

Justice Mandokhail acknowledged the argument and said the court had been observing the matter and looking for answers for a long time.

The court issued a notice to the ECP and summoned the provincial election commissioner to appear before it on Tuesday (today).

Published in Dawn, Aprill 17th, 2018