SHC declares appointment of acting SPSC chairman unlawful

LARKANA/HYDERABAD: The Sindh High Court’s Larkana circuit has declared unlawful the notification appointing an acting chairman of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), ruling that the Constitution, the SPSC Act 2022 and the relevant 2022 rules do not recognise such an arrangement.

A division bench comprising Justice Riazat Ali Sahar and Justice Ali Haider Ada passed the order on Monday in a petition, CP-460/2026, filed by Abdul Ghaffar Jatoi through his counsel Abdul Qudoos Jatoi. The petitioner had challenged the appointment of Rizwan Ahmed as respondent acting chairman under a notification issued on May 14. The bench had earlier reserved its verdict before announcing it on Monday.

According to the judgment, the illegality identified by the court related to the earlier interregnum arrangement and the May 14, 2026 notification. The bench held that from May 17 to June 13, the commission continued to exist as an institution, but no lawfully appointed chairperson was in office during that period. It said subordinate and secretariat officers could only carry out routine ministerial, preservatory and preparatory functions within their lawful scope in the absence of a validly appointed chairperson.

The court also addressed 12 results announced during the interregnum, noting that they had already been kept in abeyance through an interim order dated June 10, 2026. It vacated that interim restraint and allowed implementation of the results. At the same time, the bench said the relief was being granted because of the peculiar facts of the case, the limited nature of the defect on the present record, public interest and the need to avoid disproportionate hardship.

“This judgment must not be understood as approving extra-statutory arrangement or as condoning any future attempt to fill a constitutional office through executive convenience. Constitutional institutions must function according to law, not according to administrative expediency,” the bench said.

The bench directed the Sindh government, through the Services, General Administration and Coordination Department, to place before the competent authority within 90 days a concrete proposal for framing and notifying proper rules or regulations on the internal distribution of powers, channel of business, and the scope of ministerial and supervisory functions of the secretary, controller of examinations, deputy, assistant and additional controllers, recruitment officers and staff, as well as matters currently left to internal office arrangements.

It further instructed the authorities to start the process prescribed under Section 4 of the Act and the 2022 rules well before any vacancy in the office of chairperson is expected, preferably no later than 60 days before the anticipated vacancy, so the office does not remain vacant and no extra-statutory stopgap arrangement becomes necessary.

The court also ordered that until such rules or regulations are framed and notified, the SPSC must strictly follow the Act, the Rules and the applicable regulations already in force. It specifically said no final result, recommendation or recruitment decision should be published or communicated unless approved by an authority expressly recognised by law.

CCE-2024 candidates stage protest

Separately, a large number of unsuccessful candidates in the Combined Competitive Examination-2024 staged a sit-in outside the SPSC headquarters in Hyderabad on Monday against the results. The protest was held under the banner of the Movement for the Restoration of Meritocracy (MRM).

The demonstrators called for an independent, impartial and internationally recognised forensic audit of all examinations, recruitment processes and results conducted during the five-year tenure of the former SPSC chairman. They also demanded legal action against those found responsible for what they described as corruption, manipulation or abuse of authority in the commission’s affairs, and called for the reconstitution of the SPSC with a chairman and members of unquestioned integrity. Protesters also emphasised restoring meritocracy to protect the future of Sindh’s youth.

The protest began with a march from Daudpota Library and ended in a three-hour sit-in outside the commission’s office on Thandi Sarak. Speakers included MRM founder Farman Malgani, Fakhar-uz-Zaman Koharo, Wajahat Hingorjo, Nadir Ali Buriro, Dr Tariq Sahto, Sindh United Party leader Roshan Buriro, Porhiyat Mazahamat Tehreek leader Masroor Shah, former HCBA president Israr Chang, Sajjad Chandio, Shakir Nawaz Shar, Ahmed Ali Dal, Wahab Munshi, Badar Channa of the Sindh Sufi Forum, and Sindhu Nawaz Ghangro.

Speakers described the CCE-2024 as a violation of merit and alleged that the children of feudal elites, bureaucrats, ministers and politically influential people were favoured while many deserving candidates were denied opportunities. They further alleged that corruption, nepotism and procedural irregularities were not limited to the CCE-2024, but also affected engineering cadre-2024 examinations, lecturers’ recruitment, municipal and town officer posts, assistant sub-inspectors, revenue department examinations and other one-paper competitive tests.

Malgani said the CCE-2024 results should be declared null and void and that a proper inquiry should be launched, adding that documentary evidence of irregularities had already been shared on different forums. He also referred to what he described as institutional incompetence, saying 13 mistakes had been found in the CCE-2019 papers and four in a single 100-mark paper of CCE-2024. Referring to previous judicial scrutiny, he said judges had observed that a shop had been opened and added that candidates were now expecting a strong ruling.

“We will snatch our jobs from the commission, and we are preparing ourselves for a bigger movement if justice is not done to us,” he warned.