ISLAMABAD: Expressing serious concern over a disquieting state of affairs in public appointments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Friday ordered a departmental inquiry against delinquent officials of the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Karak to discourage such irregularities in the future.

Headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, a two-judge FCC bench also set aside the appointments of several Class-IV employees at DHQ Hospital Karak and ordered a fresh recruitment process to be completed within two months.

The FCC had taken up a set of appeals filed by Muhammad Bilal and others against the May 22, 2025, restraining order issued by the Bannu Bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against these appointments.

“It becomes evident that the case in hand exposes a deeply disquieting state of affairs in the realm of public appointments, giving rise to competing claims over the same public posts and leaving the fate of two distinct groups of individuals in a state of uncertainty,” Justice Rizvi observed in a 13-page judgement authored by him.

Directs fresh recruitment within 60 days from existing candidate list

The controversy revolves around a recruitment dispute that began in February 2020 when Dr Fakhar-e-Alam, then medical superintendent of DHQ Hospital Karak, initiated a recruitment drive for Class-IV posts. A departmental selection committee (first committee) was constituted and held meetings on Feb 25-26, 2020, making certain recommendations. However, appointment orders could not be issued due to a restraining order from the PHC.

After Dr Fakhar-e-Alam was transferred on March 4, 2020, his successor, Dr Jamil Anwar, constituted a fresh selection committee (second committee) on Sept 17, 2020. The committee recommended candidates and issued appointment orders on Sept 19, 2020.

Later, the director general health, through two letters dated Sept 22, 2020, first cancelled and then held these appointments in abeyance, citing violations of the competent authority’s directions.

While deciding the matter, the FCC ordered the KP government to reinitiate the recruitment process for the same posts strictly in accordance with the law.

However, the newly constituted departmental selection committee will not advertise the posts afresh; rather, the selection process will be conducted on the basis of the list of candidates already invited by the first committee and available on record.

No candidate will be disqualified solely on the ground of age, provided that he met the maximum age requirement on the date of the advertisement—Feb 2, 2020 — and was otherwise qualified for appointment to the post.

The FCC ordered that the entire recruitment process be completed within 60 days from the date of the judgement and that compliance be reported to the court.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026