Law: General Clauses Act, 1897

Section: 24-A

General Clauses Act (X of 1897)---

----S.24-A---Civil service---Policy Guidelines for Selection, Appointment and Posting of Trade and Investment Officers (BS-18 to BS-21) in Pakistan Trade Missions Abroad, dated 03-07-2023---Selection criteria---Non-speaking order---Station of posting---Determination---Petitioner / candidate was in service of Pakistan and was aggrieved of allocation of place of foreign posting by Interviewing Board---Validity---Candidates were provided options to give their preferences in the Policy and that did not create vested right in them per se to be allocated that particular station---Where a candidate had qualified on merit and his preference of station was available, he had legitimate expectation that such option would be granted to him---Undertaking executed by petitioner / candidate did not debar him for asserting his right to be posted at station of his second preference---Reasoning put forward by Authorities which formed basis for recommendations of the Board did not surface anywhere in minutes of meeting---Such minutes and recommendations of the Board were defective and also violative of S. 24-A of General Clauses Act---High Court declared that recommendations made by Interview Board, to the extent of recommendation of appointment of petitioner / candidate at Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), were in violation of the Policy---High Court directed Federal Government to act strictly in accordance with the Policy---Constitutional petition was allowed accordingly.

Dr. Masood Saleem v. Federation of Pakistan through Secretary, Establishment Division and another 2013 PLC (C.S.) 1062; Zaigham Abbas and 10 others v. Federation of Pakistan through Secretary, Ministry of OP and HRD and 14 others 2021 PLC (C.S.) 486; Muhammad Adil Khan and others v. Federation of Pakistan through Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and others W.P. No.3055 of 2019; Dr. Muhammad Saleem v. Government of Balochistan and others 2023 SCMR 2119; Altaf Hussain Khuro and 3 others v. Federation of Pakistan and 6 others 2023 PLC (C.S.) 796; Fida Hussain Shah and others v. Government of Sindh and others 2017 SCMR 798; Sajid Mehmood Raja and another v. Federation of Pakistan and others 2013 PLC (C.S.) 864; Uzma Manzoor v. Vice-Chancellor Khushal Khan Khattak University 2022 SCMR 694 and President National Bank of Pakistan v. Waqas Ahmed Khan 2023 SCMR 766 ref.