AYAZ vs MUSTAFA SAEED Reglns — 2025 SCMR 216 SUPREME-COURT

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AYAZ VS MUSTAFA SAEED Reglns. 0358, 0359 & 0413---Position of assistant Conservator Forests (BPS-17)---Conditions incorporated in the original advertisement altered without any readvertisement---High Court declared the recruitment process null and void with the directions to readvertise the posts afresh and allow all interested candidates to participate in the competitive process---Validity---It is an admitted position that the Sindh Public Service Commission ("SPSC") invited applications only for 2 posts of assistant Conservator of Forest (BPS-17) on Urban quota, vide advertisement No.04/2020 dated 13.07.2020 and the last date of submitting applications was 20.08.2020---However, on 08.09.2020, an addendum was issued which altered the complexion of the recruitment process for the 2 posts originally announced for urban candidates; it was modified and bifurcated, with 1 post allocated to Urban and 1 to Rural, without readvertising the 1 post dedicated to the Rural area---Not only was the original condition incorporated in the advertisement modified, but at the same time, no opportunity was afforded to the prospective candidates to apply for the 1 post dedicated to the Rural area which they could not apply for in terms of the original advertisement notifying only 2 posts for Urban areas---another misstep was increasing the numbers of vacant posts from 2 to 7---again, in the original advertisement, only 2 posts were announced, but departing from the original conditions, the number of posts were increased without readvertising---Furthermore, once the cutoff date for applications was fixed as 20.08.2020 for the general public, how was the deadline extended to 25.09.2020, through an addendum dated 08.09.2020, without publishing any advertisement or re-advertisement in continuation of the original advertisement---Niceties of Regulations 0358, 0359 & 0413 of the Sindh Public Service Commission (Recruitment Management) Regulations, 2006 made it obligatory that upon the acceptance of additional vacancies or increase in the number of posts, the said posts should have been readvertised for inviting fresh applications, and the change of the closing date for the receipt of applications could not be altered unless notified, which again implies that the extension in the closing date should also be advertised for the general public who could not apply within the original timeline, but the SPSC failed to follow its own Regulations diligently---There were also allegations of a close nexus of certain candidates with high-ranking government officials, due to which preferential treatment and favoritism was allegedly proffered by the SPSC---Judgment of the High Court did not warrant any interference.

AYAZ vs MUSTAFA SAEED Reglns — 2025 SCMR 216 SUPREME-COURT

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