LAHORE, July 10: The Lahore High Court directs the Punjab local government secretary to submit a report on the recruitment of tehsil and town municipal officers within two weeks.

The court sought the report during the hearing of a review petition filed by Tariq Ali alleging favouritism and gross violation of rules and regulations during the recruitments.

Petitioner’s counsel Imtiaz Kaifi submitted that a number of writ petitions filed by the candidates had been dismissed for lack of merit on May 31 due to misrepresentation of facts by the department.

Contrary to the stand taken by the respondents regarding transparency of the TMOs’ appointment process recorded in the order of the court dismissing the writ petitions, he submitted, the son of the selection board head was not only interviewed by his father but also appointed to the post.

He contended that an earlier court order on the writ petitions required to be reviewed because it had been passed on a stand of the respondents that gave a wrong picture of the recruitment process, which was pervaded by conflict of interest and bias. —Reporter