LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has set aside the appointment of a male candidate as the ‘permanent lumberdar’ of a village of district Lodhran and declared a woman candidate entitled to the office, holding that denial of marks to her under the head of “community” was arbitrary, self-contradictory and unsupported by law.

Justice Raheel Kamran passed the judgment on a petition filed by Kalsoom Akhtar against the Member Board of Revenue and others.

According to details, the post had fallen vacant after the death of Nawab Din, the petitioner’s father, who had served as permanent lumberdar of the village till his demise in September 2020.

The petitioner, who had also been serving as ‘Sarbarah lumberdar’ since 2002, applied for the post along with other candidates.

Refers to constitutional ethos of equality, inclusion and fair participation of women in public life

The petitioner argued that she was awarded zero marks under the category of “community” on the assumption that she belonged to a third-tier sub-caste of Gujjar community, while the successful candidate belonged to the majority community.

Conversely, a counsel for the respondent, Muhammad Azam, who was appointed as the lumberdar, supported the impugned orders, contending that the same had been passed strictly in accordance with law and after due consideration of comparative merits. The lawyer argued that his client was highly qualified, belonged to the majority community of the village and fulfilled all essential requirements for appointment as the lumberdar.

In his judgement, Justice Kamran observed that all major contestants belonged to the Gujjar community and there was no lawful basis to divide the tribe into sub-classifications in order to deprive the petitioner of marks.

The judge held that once it was admitted on record that the petitioner woman belonged to the Gujjar community and the majority population of the village also comprised Gujjars, complete denial of marks to her under the head of “community” amounted to an artificial and technical interpretation of the criteria.

The judge described the reasoning adopted by the district collector as “intrinsically self-defeating,” observing that if the petitioner’s lineage was to be treated as outside the dominant community, the same logic would cast doubt on the earlier appointment of her father as permanent lumberdar.

The judge further observed that the petitioner was not a stranger to village administration, having worked as Sarbarah lumberdar for years and assisted her late father in official duties.

Justice Kamran highlighted the constitutional principles, observing that no law disentitled a woman from holding the office of lumberdar and that capable women must receive the same objective consideration as male candidates.

Allowing the petition, the judge declared Kalsoom Akhtar entitled to be appointed as permanent lumberdar of Chak No.360/W.B, Tehsil Dunyapur, district Lodhran.

The judge directed the revenue authorities concerned to issue the necessary notification within 30 days.

The judge overturned the impugned order passed by the Member (Consolidation) Board of Revenue, Punjab, as well as an order issued by the deputy commissioner/district collector, Lodhran, whereby the respondent, Azam, had been appointed as permanent lumberdar of the village.

Before concluding the judgement, Justice Kamran observed that the court cannot remain oblivious to the contemporary constitutional ethos of equality, inclusion and fair participation of women in public life. He said rural governance and revenue administration benefit when capable women are allowed to participate in institutional roles historically monopolised by men.

“Such participation advances constitutional values of equal opportunity and strengthens public confidence in impartial administration,” he added.

The judge declared that any latent bias, direct or indirect, which diminishes a woman’s candidature for reasons unrelated to merit, could not be tolerated.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2026