On March 18, 2026, the Lahore High Court halted a major recruitment process in the Punjab health department after finding that the government had failed to include the legally required quota for persons with disabilities. Dawn reported the stay order on March 19, 2026, and later reported on April 19, 2026, that the Lahore High Court had directed the Punjab government to restart recruitment for the reserved disability quota and ensure proper compliance in future hiring.
The case was brought by Muhammad Khurram Shahzad, a qualified medical doctor with a permanent disability caused by a spinal cord injury. According to Dawn's report on stay order, he challenged the recruitment process after the Punjab Health and Population Department advertised more than 2,000 public sector posts without implementing the mandatory disability quota.
The recruitment drive was for medical officers and women medical officers in the Punjab health department. The posts were created for the financial year 2025 to 2026 under a special pay package. In its later detailed report, Dawn stated the the court ordered a fresh recruitment process for the reserved quota after ruling that the omission of the disability quota violated legal and constitutional protections.
The main issue was simple: the advertisement did not include the three percent quota for persons with disabilities. This quota is required under Section 31 of the Punjab Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2022. The law says public sector departments must reserve at least three percent of jobs for persons with disabilities.
Justice Raheel Kamran ruled that this was not a small mistake. The court made it clear that employment for persons with disabilities is not charity from the state. It is a legal and constitutional right connected to dignity, livelihood, equality, and social inclusion.
The health department tried to correct the issue later by issuing a corrigendum. A corrigendum is an official correction notice. The department argued that the doctor’s complaint had been addressed because he was later allowed to apply in another advertisement cycle that closed on March 24, 2026.
The court rejected this argument. Justice Kamran said the problem began with the original December 2025 advertisement, where the disability quota had been left out. The court held that excluding a protected group from such a large recruitment process could not be treated as a minor correction or a simple paperwork issue.
The court also observed that denying persons with disabilities the chance to compete for reserved posts goes against Articles 9 and 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan. It also conflicts with Pakistan’s commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
As part of its order, the Lahore High Court directed the Punjab government to restart the recruitment process for the reserved disability quota. The court also ordered the authorities to properly advertise the reserved posts through newspapers, official websites, and digital platforms so eligible applicants with disabilities are informed and encouraged to apply.
The judgment will also be sent to the Chief Secretary of Punjab and shared with all administrative departments in the province. This means future government hiring in Punjab must clearly follow the three percent disability quota.
The ruling is important because it protects applicants with disabilities from being left out of public sector recruitment. It also sends a strong message to government departments that legal quotas are not optional. They must be followed properly, openly, and from the beginning.
The Lahore High Court’s decision has now turned one doctor’s challenge into a wider reminder for the entire provincial bureaucracy: disability rights cannot be ignored in government hiring. More importantly, it shows that inclusion is not something the state can add later as an afterthought. It must be built into every public recruitment process from the very beginning.
