PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has declared illegal the appointment of around 144 employees to the Nowshera tehsil council from 2013 to 2018 by the then tehsil administration.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Naeem Anwar accepted a petition filed by 36 affected people, including Fozia Inayat, who claimed that the appointments were made on political grounds by the then tehsil nazim, Ahad Khattak, who is the nephew of former chief minister Pervez Khattak, and the tehsil municipal officer.

The petitioners had requested the court to declare the appointments illegal and based on nepotism for being made in violation of the rules.

The bench announced the verdict in a short order. The detailed judgment will be released later.

Shah Faisal Ilyas, lawyer for the petitioners, said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had also probed the matter and filed a reference against 16 people, including the former tehsil nazim Ahad Khattak.

He said his clients were well qualified as they were graduates and held diploma in information technology.

The lawyer said the appointments were made in violation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil servants (Appointment, Posting and Transfers) Rules, 1989.

He said his clients had valid unemployment cards issued by the district employment exchange.

The lawyer said the APT Rules provided procedure for initial recruitment of all Class-IV employees in government departments.

He said under rules, the appointment to grades 1-4 would be made on the recommendations of departmental selection committee through the district employment exchange concerned.

Shah Faisal said the petitioners had applied several times for appointment as Class IV employees or to any other posts in line with the qualification in the local government department, but to no avail.

He claimed that the then tehsil nazim exercised his powers illegally and appointed 144 people, mostly those from his village, voters, relatives or those recommended by local MPAs and MNAs.

The counsel also said the posts were not advertised.

He said records of 74 appointees were not sought from the employment exchange, while 22 were not even registered with the exchange.

The lawyer said some appointees had registered themselves with the employment exchange after their appointments.

He said the high court recently declared several of such appointments illegal.

The counsel for the respondents said appointees were qualified for those posts and their recruitments were not based on favouritism.

Meanwhile, the bench adjourned to June 30 some petitions challenging alleged illegal appointments to health department and village councils.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2020