2018 PLP (C (PLC(CS)N)

MUHAMMAD YOUNIS THAHEEM, J.

Through the instant writ petition Under Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Shaukat Ali, the petitioner, has made a prayer for issuance of an appropriate writ by directing the respondents Nos.1 to 2 i.e. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission that his total marks be rectified/corrected as 17 for academic qualification instead of 16 and 6 marks of experience instead of 4 marks i.e. his aggregate marks be rectified as 60 instead of 57.

2. Brief facts of the case are that present petitioner being serving as higher secondary school teacher in District Swat applied for the posts of Principal and Vice Principal (BPS-18) in response to the advertisement floated by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission on 07.4.2011 appearing at Serial No.6 of the ibid advertisement with following qualification:-

6. SIXTY SEVEN (67) POSTS OF PRINCIPAL/VICE PRINCIPAL Qualification: Master Degree with M.Ed/M.A. (Education), or equivalent qualification from a recognized university with nine years teaching/administrative experience in recognized Secondary School/Higher Secondary School. Note: The teaching experience will be counted after acquiring Master Degree in one of the general subjects of M Ed. Age limit: 25 to 40 years Pay scale: BPS- 18, Eligibility: Male, Allocation: Merit.

3. The present petitioner being eligible applied against the said posts by giving all the requisite information required by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission i.e. respondents Nos.1 and 2 along with his experience certificates/credentials.

4. The respondents were put on notice, amongst them, the respondents Nos.1 and 2 i.e. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission submitted its comments, wherein it has been mentioned that the request of petitioner in respect of increase of experience marks of 'RUBICAN Public School' w.e.f. 16.3.1998 to 13.7.1999 was regretted, as it was not claimed by him at the time of submission of his application form.

5. From the perusal of record and averments made in the petition as well as in the comments, it is an admitted position that petitioner is M.Ed, B.Ed and P.T.C. and after completion of all codal formalities, the petitioner was not recruited/appointed against the subject posts due to some alleged deficiency in his experience marks , as his experience from 01.9.1996 to 22.9.1996 and 06.5.1997 to 12.7.1999 near about 22 days was not counted or considered by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission as commented in their written comments on the sole ground that petitioner himself has not claimed these marks of experience while applying against the aforesaid posts. The brief resume of petitioner's qualification and experience mentioned in Para No.7 of the comments is reproduced as below:-

7. The petitioner appeared for interview on 28.8.2013. After his assessment by the panel he was awarded 37 marks in the interview, 04 marks on account of his experience along with 16 marks on the basis of academic qualification. On his representation, it was noticed that he has availed leave without pay with effect from 16.3.1998 to 13.7.1999 and also served as PST with effect from 24.6.1997 to 11.7.1999. Thus detail of his experience is as under:- 2507 Shaukat Ali Son of Matlab Khan 3.4.67/44.1.5 Swat/3 (a) Qualification Marks Year of passing BSc. 303/550 1990 M.Sc.(Maths) 904/2000 497/1100 1995 Med. 614/1200 612/1000 2002 _________________ 1412/2659 15.98+16+04+37= 57 (b) Additional Qualification Experience PST/SET/Lecture Since 24.6.1997 Applied for Nil Total marks obtained by the petitioner are

57. He was placed on merit order No.100 while the last candidate recommended for appointment as Principal/Vice-Principal is at merit order No. 67, who secured 59 marks. Thus the petitioner is far below in the merit list, therefore, could not be recommended for appointment as Principal/Vice-Principal (BPS-18).

6. According to the comments, the experience marks of petitioner, which he obtained in RUBICAN Public School were deducted from his calculated experience, so, he was allotted 57 marks out of 100, while the last candidate was recommended for appointment having 59 marks, who was placed at Serial No. 67 on the merit list. Feeling dissatisfied from the above act of respondents/ K.P.K., P.S.C. in respect of deduction of his experience marks, the petitioner filed appeal before the Chairman, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission, which was entertained and decided on 12.7.2016 in the following terms:- Subject: Application for correction in, experience marks for the post of Principal (BPS-18) "With reference to your application on the subject noted above and to state that you have qualified interview and secured 57/37 marks and awarded 4 marks for your experience after master degree i.e. 16.12.1995. However your private experience of RUBICAN School w.e.f 16.3.1998 to 13.7.1999 is unclaimed and additional marks cannot be awarded at this belated stage."

7. In nutshell, the petitioner was declared passed in interview and secured 57/37 marks and was awarded 4 marks for experience after master degree, however, his experience of teaching in Rubican Public School w.e.f.16.3.1998 to 13.7.1999 have not been counted by the respondents Nos.1 and 2 in favour of petitioner on the ground that he has not claimed the said experience marks of RUBICAN School at the time of submission of application form, hence, his appeal was dismissed vide above quoted order dated 12.7.2015.

8. Arguments heard and record perused.

9. This Court requisitioned original file along with application form of petitioner to examine as to whether his experience marks of RUBICAN Public School were claimed by him at the time of submission of application form or not. From examining of original record, it transpires that petitioner did not specifically claim his experience marks of RUBICAN Public School, but according to petitioner in his application form submitted to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission only experience was claimed by him without any distinction in which his experience of working at RUBICAN Public School was included, but was not considered.

10. Perusal of the order dated 12.7.2015 handed down by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission reveals that the petitioner's contention raised in his appeal was either misunderstood or was not given heed in juxta position to the application given for grant of his additional experience marks, though, the petitioner did not specifically claim the experience of RUBICAN Public School, but as per his contention he included his entire experience along with of RUBICAN Public School in the relevant column, so, the Worthy Chairman of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission i.e. respondents Nos.1, and 2 while deciding appeal of the petitioner did not properly advert to the stance/contention raised by the petitioner and declared his experience marks of Rublican Public School as "unclaimed" in a very casual manner. So, the impugned order on petitioner's appeal dated 12.7.2015 is void, against the facts and law, so, is set aside and the matter is again sent to the Worthy Chairman, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission to re-hear the petitioner and carefully examine all his record including all of his experience according to the rules applicable therefor and shall decide his appeal afresh giving reasons within a period of one month positively after receipt of this judgment with intimation to Additional Registrar of this Court. Thus the instant writ petition is disposed of in the above terms ZC/13/P Case remanded.