THE Supreme Court’s ruling against prolonged ad hoc and acting appointments is an indictment of a deeply entrenched bureaucratic culture that thrives on political patronage, uncertainty and administrative inertia. Successive governments, both at the centre and in the provinces, have mostly relied on temporary arrangements, especially politically sensitive positions, that somehow become ‘permanent’. Officers are assigned the duties meant for higher posts for months, even years, without formal promotion, financial benefits or recognition of........

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