Chandigarh, Sept. 15 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has restrained Punjab government from proceeding further with recruitment of women firemen for state municipalities, a decision taken by the government to have women as firefighters. "It is made clear that no further action in pursuance to the impugned order shall be taken by the respondents without leave of the court," the bench of justice Namit Kumar observed while fixing the next date of hearing for November 12. The court was hearing a petition in which it was alleged that the government on August 12 changed the criteria of selection not only after issuance of advertisement in 2023 but also after the declaration of result in order "to accommodate" the persons who were found ineligible in terms of the notified criteria. Pursuant to 2023 advertisement, no woman had qualified in the physical test even as 461 posts were kept reserved for women. In all, 991 posts were advertised out of which 461 posts stood reserved for women and 530 for men, distributed across various vertical categories (240 posts were advertised in municipal corporations and 751 posts were advertised in municipal councils out of which 85 and 376 posts were reserved respectively for women candidates). The final result was declared on February 4, 2024. On August 12, the government changed the physical standard criterion for women, which has been challenged in this petition. The petitioners were male candidates who had successfully cleared all stages of the recruitment. The petition demanded to convert the 461 vacant posts of fireman (85 pertaining to municipal corporation and 376 pertaining to municipal council/nagar panchayats) reserved for women in 2023 advertisement and to fill the same from the male candidates of the respective vertical categories in accordance with merit, in compliance of Rule 5(3) of the Punjab Civil Services (Reservation of Posts for Women) Rules, 2020. During the hearing, state's counsel had submitted that for the time being, the August 12 order would be kept in abeyance as the matter is being referred to the council of ministers. Adjourning the matter for November, court said that the decision, if any, taken by the council of ministers be placed before the court....