ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court held that administrative discretion must operate with recognizable legal limits, and seven instruments of power in administrative governance are not mere aspirational ideals but enforceable standards which lend legitimacy to state action.
The judgment, authored by Justice Rozi Khan Barrech, said; “Where public power is exercised through ‘administrative discretion’, such discretion must operate within recognizable legal limits.”
“The “seven instruments of power” in administrative governance, namely legality, fairness, transparency, reasoned decision-making, proportionality, non-arbitrariness, and accountability are not mere aspirational ideals but enforceable standards which lend legitimacy to state action. In the field of public appointments, these principles assume heightened significance because the process concerns not private preference but public trust,” it added.
According to the minutiae of the case, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department invited applications from eligible and suitable candidates to fill the vacancy of the office of Chairman, BISE, Bannu.
The Controlling Authority, through notification dated 02.02.2021, constituted a Search and Scrutiny Committee (SSC) for interviewing shortlisted candidates for the said post.
In terms of its Terms of Reference (ToRs), the SSC was mandated to evaluate and interview the shortlisted candidates and recommend a panel of three officers for each post for further approval by the Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The SSC conducted interviews of the shortlisted candidates on 26.09.2024, who had applied for the post of Chairman, Board, Bannu. It recommended the names of Jehangir Khan, Jehandad Khan Marwat and Muhammad Ishaq for the appointment as Chairman, BISE, Bannu, for a period of two years.
The recommendation of the SSC was formally forwarded to Chief Minister for formal approval of any of the names recommended in accordance with law. Later a revised summary was prepared wherein the petitioner’s (Sifatullah Khan) placed at Serial No. 4, was appointed as Chairman, BISE, Bannu, on deputation for a period of three years vide notification dated 13.09.2025, while the recommendation of the SSC was ignored.
The appointment was challenged before the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which set aside the notification dated 13-05-2025 appointing the petitioner as Chairman of the Board. The petitioner therefore filed a petition under Article 175(f)(c) of the Constitution.
The petitioner’s counsel argued before the FCC that under Section 14 of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Act, 1990, appointment to the office of Chairman falls within the discretion of the Controlling Authority.
He further contended that the High Court erred in curtailing such discretion by importing procedural fetters not contemplated by the statute. It was submitted that the recommendation of the Search and Scrutiny Committee was merely advisory in nature and did not restrict the authority of the Chief Minister to select any eligible candidate.
The FCC judgment noted that the KP government itself opted to structure the appointment process by creating a Search and Scrutiny Committee with defined TORs to shortlist and recommend eligible candidates for consideration of the Chief Minister.
Once such process was set in motion and the Committee had submitted its panel, any departure therefrom had to be justified on sound legal grounds and supported by a reasoned administrative record.
No such material is forthcoming. The subsequent insertion of the petitioner’s name in a revised summary, without any fresh deliberation by the Committee and without explanation for exclusion of the originally recommended candidates, militates against the settled principles of lawful administrative action.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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