PESHAWAR, Feb 13: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Thursday restrained the provincial government from filling about 13 posts in the Zakat and Ushr department.

The bench comprising Justice Malik Hamid Saeed and Justice Shahjehan Khan issued notices to the government through secretary and chief administrator of Zakat, asking for their comments in a writ petition.

The petition was filed by 13 field clerks of the department whose services had been terminated by the government. The petitioners claimed that the MMA government wanted to appoint party workers against those vacancies. The petitioners requested the high court to declare their termination illegal.

Appearing for petitioners, Barrister Masood Kausar urged the court to grant them interim relief by allowing them to continue their jobs. However, the court turned down the request and decided to restrain the government from filling these posts till further orders.

The petitioners, Nadeem Ali and others, were appointed in different years from 1985 to 2001. They stated that they were informed through a letter that their services were terminated on Feb 31, 2003.