CSS qualified persons with disability can now join Foreign Service of Pakistan

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday struck down provisions of the Rules of Competitive Examination 2014 which barred the Central Superior Services (CSS) qualified persons with disability from joining the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP).

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Friday directed the federal government to allocate two seats to the two visually-impaired petitioners in the FSP at the earliest.

He said if no such posts were available then the concerned quarters should create two new posts to adjust the petitioners in order to uphold their fundamental rights and to redress the unconstitutional deprivation they have been facing since 2014 after being compelled to join the Information Group.

The chief justice ruled that while Rule 9(ii) of the CSS rules 2014 has been struck down, the government should formulate rules to offer all or any occupational services to disabled persons in the All Pakistan Service, after thoroughly assessing possibility of providing reasonable accommodation before the next CSS exam.

The court passed this order on a petition of Muhammad Yousaf and Faisal Majeed – visually impaired persons – who appeared in 2014 CSS examination.