Lahore, The Lahore High Court (LHC) pursued a reply from the Punjab government and the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) on a writ petition challenging condition of written examination for appointment of visually-impaired candidates against vacancies of junior special education teachers on Friday. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed requested to stay the examination being held for the posts, restrained the PPSC from announcing the results till a final decision on the petition.

Previously, the PPSC deputy director appeared on a short notice and stated that according to the advertisement for the posts, no quota was allocated for the disabled.

However, the judge directed him to file a detailed reply on the matter and also directed an assistant advocate general to seek instructions from the government by Nov 24. The Pakistan Association of The Blind filed a petition in court on behalf of blind candidates. They were of the point that these posts were meant to teach visually-impaired children and only a visually-impaired teacher could better understand their problems.

The petitioners begged that the blind candidates for written test could not write properly because of which they would fail in the test. They pointed out that no written test was conducted for appointments recently made for other three categories of the disabled. They requested the court to direct the PPSC and the special education secretary to remove the condition of written test from the appointment of special education teachers.

The Lahore High Court on Friday issued a notice to District Coordination Officer Ahad Cheema on a contempt of court petition seeking action against him for challenging a court order. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, issued a notice to the DCO and deferred hearing till Nov 17 after hearing the dispute.