A five-member bench of the court headed by Justice Baqar Najafi announced the decision in an appeal against the dismissal of the officers. Only one judge out of five, Justice Asim Hafeez, differed with the majority view.

The ruling also said that the appointment of 19 legal officers during the Hamza Shehbaz government in Punjab was against the law.

The 97 officers included 32 additional and 65 assistant advocates which were appointed by the PTI government.

However, they had been removed by the caretaker govrnment upon which they approached the court.