THE government seems interested in conducting ‘special CSS examinations’ as reiterated by it recently. Apparently it seems the right decision to accommodate the underprivileged candidates of provinces other than Punjab, it is yet to be seen whether it comes under the ambit of the Constitution.

The first question is: how have 188 seats remained ‘vacant’ when CSS examinations are being conducted on an annual basis?

As announced by the government, these seats belong to the non-Punjab CSS candidates and come under the umbrella of ‘quota system’. The quota system has already been termed un-Islamic by the Federal Shariat Court in 1992, and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1997. Strangely, it continues to be practised even after 23 years of the landmark judgment.

The quota system was made a temporary part under Article 27 of the Constitution. The Article says: “quota system should not exceed a period of 40 years from the commencing day of the Constitution (1973).” This means quota stands expired in the year 2013. The only option to decide the fate of quota is an act of parliament under Article 27 (iii).

Since 2013, there has been no act of parliament which may extend quota; therefore, it is evident that the federal government, through the establishment division, is conducting these prestigious examinations illegally for the last seven years without any constitutional cover.

As reported by Dawn (Oct 9, 2019), a petition was also filed in the Islamabad High Court by 34 candidates regarding the legality of the quota system. The court is currently hearing the petition.

It is, therefore, not difficult to conclude that not only the quota system is unconstitutional, but the issuance of statements regarding a matter which is already being heard by the high court may also amount to another illegal step being taken in frustration and not rationality.

This may be termed an irrational escape of the government to allocate all 188 seats in a single-step. It may also be an effort of the government to influence the judgment of IHC even before its announcement.

Syed Rameez Naqvi
Attock

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2020