Children of govt employees have priority over widow in 'deceased quota' appointments: SHC

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ruled that a widow can be appointed under the deceased quota only where all children of the deceased government employee are minors, holding that the law was primarily framed to provide employment to children of a civil servant who dies during service or becomes incapacitated.

A two-judge constitutional bench led by Justice Muhammad Saleem Jessar made the observations while disposing of a petition filed by a woman who had sought directions for the authorities to scrutinise her documents and issue her an appointment order after her husband died while in service.

The petitioner, Rabia, told the court that her husband, Mumtaz Ahmed, was serving as an assistant in BS-16 in the Sindh Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Department and died in November 2022 while still in service. She said she had subsequently applied for a job under the deceased quota, but her application had not been processed.

The additional advocate general informed the court that the deceased employee had been survived by two widows and children from both marriages. He said that under Rule 11-A of the Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules, 1974, the government had adopted a policy requiring a family nomination and a no-objection certificate for appointment under the deceased quota. He further stated that the first wife, Sughra, had declined to provide a nomination and NOC in favour of the petitioner, who was the second wife, and that this was why her case had not moved forward.

Court’s observations

In its order, the bench said guidelines issued by the Services and General Administration Department required unanimous nomination and consent from all legal heirs as an essential condition for appointment under the deceased quota. The court also noted that Rule 11-A had been inserted into the APT Rules through a September 2002 notification by the provincial government as beneficial legislation aimed at assisting families of civil servants who died in service or were rendered unable to continue their duties.

The bench said the original framework provided for the appointment of one of the children of a deceased employee in BS-1 to BS-10, and that the scheme was later amended significantly, including by extending the benefit up to grade 15 and introducing a cut-off date for applications.

Referring to the later inclusion of widows in the scheme, the court said: "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."

"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," the bench further observed.

The court also held that the Services and General Administration Department was empowered under Rule 3 to prescribe the method, conditions and qualifications for appointments to a post, including requiring affidavits from other legal heirs stating they had no objection to the appointment of an applicant. On that point, the bench said: "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."

Direction to appoint daughter

The bench noted that besides the two widows, the deceased left behind one daughter, about 19 years old, and three minor sons. It held that the rules made it clear that preference in deceased quota appointments was to be given to the children of the deceased employee.

The court found that the daughter had become the only eligible child for appointment under the deceased quota and that her entitlement excluded the petitioner from consideration in that category. It therefore directed the relevant department to appoint the deceased employee’s daughter, regardless of the otherwise mandatory requirement of affidavits from all legal heirs.

The order further said that since the daughter attained majority in 2025, her claim should not be defeated either on the ground that a no-objection certificate was needed from her stepmother or because the application cut-off date had expired. The bench directed that she be accommodated in civil service in a post matching her qualifications.