ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development to interview a federal government officer who was excluded from the selection process for community welfare attaches (CWAs) despite qualifying the written test.

Justice Ayyaz Shaukat, while allowing a petition filed by Raza Hassan, a BS-19 officer currently serving as deputy secretary in the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, ruled that the ministry could not change the prescribed selection criteria midway through the process to the disadvantage of candidates.

In a written order issued in the petition, the court directed the ministry to arrange the petitioner’s interview before a duly constituted selection committee under the applicable policy and subsequently consider his candidature in accordance with the prescribed criteria and the merit determined after completion of the process.

The court clarified that the direction did not confer any right to appointment or dispense with any other applicable eligibility requirement.

The petitioner through his counsel, Shahid Mehmood Khokhar, had challenged his exclusion from the interview stage for appointments of CWAs in Pakistan’s diplomatic missions abroad, contending that the ministry had violated the policy guidelines governing foreign appointments and postings.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2026