LAHORE, Feb 3: A division bench of the Lahore High Court has observed that if appointments on public offices are not made on merit and according to rules , they are arbitrary, thus unlawful besides being in contravention of Article 25 of the constitution.

The observation is contained in a recent judgment which declared the appointment of eight customs inspectors made during the Benazir Bhutto regime as illegal in the light of an Indian Supreme Court decision (AIR 1965 SC 1293).

The bench also sacked the inspectors, declared their posts as vacant and instructed the authorities concerned to make fresh appointments in accordance with the law in a transparent manner.

The bench observed that the law could be invoked if an illegality and injustice had been committed. The judgment cited the reply of the Faisalabad additional collector which said the appointments were made on instructions received by phone from the Central Board of Revenue and the Prime Minister's Secretariat, Islamabad.

The bench gave the decision on an appeal by Shahid Rafiq Gill who submitted that he was called for written test and interview after he applied for the post following an advertisement.

He contended that he got through the written test and interview in March and August, 1995, and was told that he stood seventh on the merit list and was certain to get the job. However, when appointments were made, his name was missing. He submitted that the appeal, filed in 1996, was dismissed on the ground that the customs inspectors already appointed would be dislocated and become jobless.

He contended that the appointments were made on extraneous considerations and not according to the law and the dismissal of the appeal was also not based on legal grounds.