The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday threw out the petition filed against Pakistan Civil Awards, declaring it inadmissible for hearing.The LHC verdict, spreading over 11 pages, has been described as a judicial precedent.  The decision, which was authored by Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad on the petition filed by Ashba Kamran, said that a salaried government employee could be the recipient of a civil award based on his or her extraordinary services for people. “Only the official post or job does not make an employee entitled to receive the award,” the high court noted.

The court further stated that it was the president of Pakistan and concerned officials who had the authority to confer upon a civil award. The argument, the court went on to say, that all civil awards given in the past be declared null and void had no legal basis. “A constitutional amendment does not render the awards given before October 2024 null and void.” The court also made it clear that it could not replace the executive policy with its own policy. It also rejected the request for conducting general audit of the entire system of civil awards. The petitioner, a woman, had approached the LHC against the approval of award of civil awards to bureaucrats and ministers.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)