PESHAWAR: Only three out of 1,024 candidates have passed the written examination conducted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission to fill 105 vacant positions of civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate and Alaqa Qazi.

The exam results were announced by the PCS on Wednesday, showing poor performance of the candidates.

The BPS-18 vacant positions were advertised by the Peshawar High Court in April 2026.

“In response to the advertisement, a total of 3,097 applications were received by the commission. All the candidates were provisionally admitted to the syllabus based written examination wherein 1024 candidates appeared in the examination,” reads the PCS announcement.

BPS-18 vacancies were advertised by PHC in April

“Only three candidates could qualify the written examination. They include Saba Rasool from South Waziristan, Abdullah Noor from Bajaur and Sayed Zahid Hussain from Mardan.”

The pass percentage showed that 1,024 candidates appeared in the subject of English General and English Essay and out of them, 149 passed the exam, with the remaining 875 (85 per cent) remaining unsuccessful.

The Urdu General and Urdu Essay paper was passed by 369 out of 654 candidates, with the pass percentage coming to 57.

The Pashto General and Pashto Essay was passed by 96 per cent of the candidates as 340 candidates appeared in the paper and 335 of them passed the exam.

Similarly, 1005 candidates appeared in the paper for General Knowledge and 687 of them (68 per cent) failed.

The Civil Law-I paper was passed by 587 out of 996 candidates, with the pass percentage coming to 59. Also, 996 candidates appeared in the Civil Law-II paper and 537 remained successful, while the paper for the Criminal law was passed by 803 out of 996 candidates, with a pass rate of 81 per cent. The Islamic Jurisprudence paper was passed by 697 candidates out of 993.

In the Qanun-e-Shahadat 1984 and Pleadings paper, 775 out of 995 candidates remained successful.

The PCS instructed the three qualified candidates to submit duly signed required documents within 15 days.

“A candidate who desires to apply for re-totaling of marks, he /she shall submit an application to the commission,” reads the notification.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council expressed concern about the dismal exam results and demanded of the PCS to withdraw and review the results notification, according to a statement issued here.

“Only three candidates were declared successful, which is an extremely alarming matter,” reads the statement issued by the spokesperson of the bar council.

He said the results had raised several questions about the method of recruitment of judges in the judicial system, the examination standards and the system of evaluating candidates.

“In the view of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, the province is already facing serious issues such as a shortage of judges, a huge backlog of cases and the timely delivery of justice to the public. In such circumstances, the success of only three candidates in the examination conducted for 105 posts is not only noteworthy but also a highly regrettable situation, which needs to be seriously reviewed,” he said.

The spokesman demanded that the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court take immediate notice of the said results and notification of the Public Service Commission, take necessary steps to withdraw it and review the entire examination process, prescribed standards and results so that justice for the candidates can be ensured and the process of recruitment of judges in the judiciary can be made transparent, fair and effective.

He warned if appropriate measures were not taken, the council would exercise its right to available legal recourse against it.

“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council also demands that in future, the recruitment of civil judges be carried out through the Peshawar High Court instead of the Public Service Commission in the same manner as the appointment process of additional district and sessions judges is carried out through the Peshawar High Court,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2026