LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has dismissed a petition against the recruitment process initiated by the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) for BPS-16 and 17 positions.

Justice Khalid Ishaq issued the judgment on a petition filed by a citizen, Irfan Allah Ditta, against the federal government and the EOBI.

The petitioner had sought halt of the recruitment of assistant directors (BPS-17) and executive officers (BPS-16), which was initiated through a vacancy announcement on July 21, 2024.

His counsel Hafiz Tariq Nasim argued that the advertisement capped the maximum age at 30 years, allegedly violating the EOBI Regulations of 1980, which, he claimed, prescribed a 35-year limit. He contended that the announcement failed to explicitly carve out a two percent quota for persons with disabilities, minorities or females.

The counsel asserted that because the EOBI was being run by an acting head authorised only for day-to-day operations, long-term policy decisions like mass recruitments were legally unauthorised.

On behalf of the EOBI, Muhammad Baqir Hussain advocate opposed the petition on the point of maintainability. He said the petitioner had no locus standi to challenge the recruitment. He pointed out that the petitioner neither assailed the process at the appropriate time nor did he participate in the competitive process.

Justice Ishaq observed that the petitioner was not an aggrieved person, which was a pre-condition for invoking the constitutional jurisdiction of the court.

The judge noted that the recruitment process, which involved 6,800 candidates sitting a written test conducted transparently by the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), was already at its final stage.

Finding the petition entirely without merit, the judge dismissed the petition, allowing the long-stalled recruitment process to proceed.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2026