LHC Orders Woman’s Appointment as Permanent Lumberdar

The Lahore High Court (LHC), setting aside decisions of Board of Revenue officials, on Friday directed authorities to appoint a woman as permanent lumberdar in tehsil Dunyapur of Lodhran district, ruling that reducing her merit score on the basis of community bias was unlawful, according to The News.

Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh issued an eight-page written judgment overturning decisions made by the Lodhran deputy commissioner and the Board of Revenue that had blocked the appointment of Kulsoom Akhtar.

The position had fallen vacant following the death of the previous lumberdar. Kulsoom Akhtar applied for the post and was initially ranked at the top of the merit list by the assistant commissioner.

Court records showed that her merit score was later reduced to zero by the deputy commissioner on the basis of sub-community considerations, resulting in her removal from the merit list.

The court observed that Kulsoom Akhtar’s father had previously served as village lumberdar and ruled that if he was eligible to hold the office, she could not be disqualified on similar community grounds.

The judgment stated that denying women equal access to public positions was contrary to constitutional principles and clarified that the office of lumberdar is a public responsibility rather than a hereditary privilege.

Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh further ruled that administrative powers cannot be exercised arbitrarily and held that the Board of Revenue failed to properly examine issues relating to merit and legal conflict.

The court also highlighted Kulsoom Akhtar’s experience in rural administration, revenue matters and public liaison work while annulling the appointment of Mohammad Azam as permanent lumberdar.

Revenue authorities have been directed to issue her official appointment notification within 30 days.