Lahore High Court stays appointment process in Punjab Health Department over disability quota violation

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday halted the appointment process for more than 2,000 public sector positions in the Punjab Health Department after the government failed to implement the mandatory quota reserved for persons with disabilities.

Justice Raheel Kamran issued the stay order while hearing a writ petition filed by Muhammad Khurram Shahzad, a qualified medical doctor who lives with a permanent disability caused by a spinal cord injury.

Petitioner challenges advertisement of 2,115 posts

The petitioner's counsel, Rai Abu Sufiyan, told the court that the Punjab Health and Population Department had advertised 2,115 posts, including positions for medical officers, for the financial year 2025-26. However, the counsel argued that the advertisement was in clear violation of Section 31 of the Punjab Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2022, which requires a minimum three per cent quota for persons with disabilities across all public sector departments.

Rai Abu Sufiyan contended that the government's action in this regard was patently illegal, arbitrary, and discriminatory, as it failed to allocate the legally mandated quota for disabled persons in the advertised recruitment drive.

Stay order issued pending further proceedings

After hearing the arguments, Justice Raheel Kamran granted a stay on the entire appointment process, effectively putting the recruitment on hold until the matter is resolved. The stay order was issued in response to what the petitioner described as a blatant disregard for the rights of persons with disabilities as enshrined in provincial legislation.

The Punjab Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2022, was enacted to safeguard the rights and inclusion of disabled individuals in public sector employment, mandating that at least three per cent of all positions in government departments be reserved for them. The petitioner argued that the failure to incorporate this quota in the health department's recruitment advertisement rendered the entire process unlawful.

The case highlights the ongoing challenges faced by persons with disabilities in Pakistan in securing their legally guaranteed representation in government employment. The court's intervention underscores the judiciary's role in ensuring that statutory protections for marginalised groups are upheld by government departments during public sector hiring processes.

Further hearings in the case are expected as the court examines whether the Punjab Health Department's recruitment process complied with the provisions of the disability empowerment law.