Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Takes Notice For Not Selecting A Blind Candidate For Post Of Civil Judge

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Tuesday took notice of blind, Yousif Saleem, Advocate who was rejected by Lahore High Court (LHC) Selection Committee for the post of Civil Judge.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2018 ) :Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar Tuesday took notice of blind, Yousif Saleem, Advocate who was rejected by Lahore High Court (LHC) Selection Committee for the post of Civil Judge.

The notice was taken on the article titled "Blind Man's dream to be judge gone dark" by Umar Cheema, published in "The News" dated April 22 and the programme "Zara Hat Kay" televised on Dawn news on April 23, said a press release here.

Yousaf Saleem is a gold-medalist from the University of the Punjab in LLB (Honors) Programme in the year 2014 and topped the written examination of the Civil Judges conducted by the Lahore High Court in the year 2017 amongst 6500 candidates, but he was not selected in the interview on the ground that he had a disability "blindness".

Taking cognizance of the issue, Chief Justice of Pakistan has observed that a person could hold the post of a Judge even if he was blind, provided he met all the other qualifications.

It appears that in this case his fundamental rights under Articles 9, 14 and 25 of the Constitution, the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ratified by Pakistan in year 2011, the 3% quota under the Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981, and the jurisprudence developed by the LHC in PLD 2017 Lahore 406 and PLD 2017 Lahore 1 were not considered by the Lahore High Court, in this case.

Therefore, the Chief Justice has referred the matter to the Chief Justice, Lahore High Court and the relevant committee of the High Court for reconsideration of the named candidate and to give a speaking opinion.