MUHAMMAD ALI SHAH vs INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, PUNJAB, LAHORE Reglns

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MUHAMMAD ALI SHAH VS INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, PUNJAB, LAHORE Reglns. 66 & 69---Police service---Recruitment process---Post of assistant Sub-Inspector (aSI)---Preparation of waiting list---Non-joining of one of selected candidate---Failure of Department to recommend a candidate from the waiting list during the validity period---Effect---Legal and administrative obligation of the Department to exhaust the waiting list---Scope---Police department across the Province stands as one whole body and no legal justification exists to apply different standards and/or treatment in different regions---Government department are obligated to remain consistent in application of their departmental practice and any selective and arbitrary deviation is preposterous to say the least and is a set recipe for corruption at the cost of and to the detriment of transparency and fairness, which in itself has the potential to hit back all the functioning of the department and service delivery standards---Such inconsistent conduct not only violated the petitioners rights but also eroded the credibility of the recruitment process---Where an eligible candidate from the waiting list makes a timely application for appointment against the resultant vacancy, the department concerned is under a legal and administrative obligation to deal with that request expeditiously and such an application cannot be kept pending for an indefinite period or brushed aside simply on the ground that the department is not under an obligation to recommend the name of such a candidate---If a candidate from the waiting list has made an application of a specific, available, vacancy, the department must pass a recent and timely order, preferably within one month from the date of receipt of an application from the candidate from the waiting list, which enables the candidate to exercise an informed choice whether to accept the rejection or to challenge the same or to prepare for the next recruitment process---Department cannot be allowed to ignore a vacancy, or refuse to recommend a candidate from the waiting list without giving any reasons and also fail to start a fresh recruitment process---If the Department delays the matter in such manner and lets the validity period expire, it cannot later take shelter behind the lapse of time---Such conduct amounts to unfair administrative practice and is legally unacceptable---Constitutional petition was allowed, in circumstance.

MUHAMMAD ALI SHAH vs INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, PUNJAB, LAHORE Reglns — 2026 PLC(CS) 327 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

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