ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has held that the Punjab Police cannot mechanically deny recruitment to a candidate solely on the basis of a pending or previously registered FIR, noting that the authorities must assess each case on its own merits and in accordance with constitutional principles.
In a six-page judgment authored by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, the court upheld an order of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and held that the Constitution does not allow executive authorities to apply recruitment policies in a manner that disregards the individual facts and circumstances of each case.
The court noted that the administrative discretion must always be exercised after due application of mind and supported by reasons showing a rational nexus between the material on hand and the conclusion reached.
“An order denying appointment which merely restates the existence of an earlier FIR, without assessing the legal effect of the subsequent acquittal or the surrounding circumstances, reflects no real exercise of discretion but only a mechanical application of policy.
“Such an approach cannot be maintained in the constitutional decision,” the judgment states.
The court noted that while recruitment for public service, particularly for a disciplined force such as the police, allows the state to prescribe standards of integrity, character and fitness, the discretion of the appointing authority remains subject to constitutional constraints.
“The appointing authority is therefore competent to scrutinize a candidate’s background before an appointment is made. However, such control must be exercised within constitutional limits.
“The executive discretion cannot be converted into an arbitrary or mechanical exercise by treating the mere fact of registration of a criminal case as an automatic and irreversible disqualification, notwithstanding the candidate’s subsequent exoneration.”
The judgment emphasized that any administrative decision affecting public employment must remain consistent with the constitutional guarantees of fairness, legality and equality.
The court further held that the policy letter of the Punjab Police relied upon by the authorities must be interpreted in a manner consistent with constitutional principles.
“An executive order can regulate the hiring process and prescribe standards for verification of antecedents, but it cannot override the legal consequences of a court decision.”
The judgment added that once a competent court has exonerated a candidate, the appointing authority cannot ignore that judicial finding by continuing to treat the candidate as if the allegations in the FIR had been established.
“Such an approach would amount to replacing executive suspicion with judicial determination, an approach impermissible under the constitutional framework,” the court noted. However, the court clarified that an acquittal does not automatically give the right to employment in the police.
“Appointment to the Police Department is not a matter of automatic eligibility but remains subject to the appointing authority being satisfied that the candidate possesses the requisite fitness, character and integrity expected of a member of a disciplined force.”
