KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has noted that the appointment of a widow under the deceased quota can only be made when all children of the late employee are minors, as the primary intent of the legislation was to accommodate the children of a civil servant who passed away during service or became incapacitated and unable to perform further duties.

It also observed that the legislation, with deliberate intent, created room and conceived a framework for the appointment of children, as a widow upon the death of her husband becomes entitled to service benefits, including a monthly pension. As such, the children of a deceased employee were placed in preference and given priority for employment.

A two-judge constitutional bench of the SHC headed by Justice Muhammad Saleem Jessar further said that in order to get an appointment under deceased quota, the Services & General Administration Department had laid down certain conditions and the same came within its dominion and could not be interfered with by the court, as appointments in civil service fell purely under executive authority.

The court made these observations while disposing of a petition filed by a woman seeking directives for the respondents to complete scrutiny of her documents and issue an appointment order on deceased quota after the death of her husband while in service.

Bench observes a widow is eligible for appointment only if all children of deceased employee are minors

Petitioner Rabia had approached the SHC last year and argued that her spouse Mumtaz Ahmed was serving as an assistant (BS-16) in the Excise, Taxation & Narcotics Department, Sindh and died while in service in November 2022. Thereafter, she had applied for a job against the deceased quota, but the same has not been processed yet.

An additional advocate general (AAG) contended that the deceased employee was survived by two widows and had children from both wives and under Rule 11-A of Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion & Transfer), Rules 1974 (APT Rules), the government had framed a policy wherein nomination from the family and no-objection certificate (NOC) were mandatory requirements to seek a job under the deceased quota.

The AAG also stated that the deceased employee’s first wife, Sughra, had refused to tender nomination and NOC in favour of the petitioner, the second wife of the late employee, and therefore her case for appointment had not been processed.

The bench, in its order, noted that under the guidelines issued by the services & general administration department, unanimous nomination and consent of all the legal heirs were a sine qua non for appointment under the deceased quota.

It also said that Rule 11-A was inserted in APT Rules through subordinate legislation by the provincial government vide a notification issued in September 2002 to accommodate the children of deceased employees in civil service as it was a beneficial legislation aimed at supporting bereaved families of deceased civil servants who died while in service or were incapacitated to perform duties.

The bench further observed that initially, subordinate legislation provided for appointment of one of the children of a deceased employee in basic pay scales 1 to 10. Later, it underwent substantial changes through substitutions, including provision of job was extended until grade 15 and providing a cut-off date to apply for the job.

“From the perusal of above provisions of Rule 11-A, it transpired that scheme to accommodate widow of the deceased employee was introduced in year 2016, however, appointment of widow was subject to the condition that all children of deceased employee were minor. The basic intent of the legislation was to accommodate the children of civil servant who died while in service or became incapacitated to perform further job,” it added.

The order said, “The legislation with deliberate intent created room and conceived law for appointment of children as widow on death of husband becomes entitled for service benefits that includes monthly pension etc. as such children of deceased employee were placed at preference and priority for fresh job.”

It also stated that to get appointment under deceased quota, the Services & General Administration Department had laid down certain conditions, including an affidavit of other legal heirs not objecting to appointment of aspirant candidate, as Rule 3 empowered the department concerned to lay methods, conditions and qualifications for appointment to a particular post.

“The mechanism so devised by the services & general administration department falls within its dominion and cannot be interfered with by this Court as appointments in civil service purely fell under executive authority,” it added.

The bench further said that besides two widows, the deceased also had one daughter of around 19 years old and three underage sons and from perusal of Rule 11-A, it was crystal clear that preference for appointment under deceased quota shall be given to the children of the deceased employee.

Since the daughter of the deceased has become the only eligible person among the children to be considered for the job against the deceased quota and her entitlement to the job excluded petitioner from that category, therefore, the SHC directed the department concerned to appoint the deceased’s daughter for the job irrespective of the mandatory requirement of affidavit by all legal heirs.

The bench said that the girl has attained the age of majority in 2025 and her case must not be defeated on the grounds of obtaining an NOC from her stepmother or the expiry of the cut-off date for applying. Instead, she must be accommodated in civil service in a post commensurate with her qualifications.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2026