ISLAMABAD: While upholding Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict for regularisation of daily-wage employees of federal government, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday turned down the review plea of government against the decision.
Headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, three-member bench of apex court comprising on Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan taken up review petition filed by the federal government against the IHC decision passed in June last year. In its decision the IHC directed for regularisation all federal government contractual employees, including those of the Capital Administration and Development (CADD).
The decision was challenged in the superior court to get relief over that. Arguing before the bench, Deputy Attorney General said that the government wanted to some sort of clarity over said IHC decision. When Justice Gulzar Ahmed asked either you are terming the judgment wrong or you need r’.elief, Deputy Attorney claimed that the judgment is correct but its little ‘ambiguous
In response, justice Gulzar Ahmed said that if the government has any sort of reservations or unclarities, it should file a review plea in the IHC instead here in SC.
In its decision in June, the IHC had directed to all ministries and divisions concerned to issue their posting orders within a period of 90 days subject to fulfilment of other codal formalities.
In his remarks, Justice Gulzar said that the all daily-wage employees should give joining-applications in their respective departments. “In case any department refuses for giving joining to any such employee, they should file contempt of court pea in the IHC”, he asked the employees.
In June last year, in a 72- page judgement of a IHC divisional bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Aamer Farooq, the court directed that “all employees, who have been regularised by the government of Pakistan through Cabinet Committee, who have not been given joining due to the restriction imposed by the government and they are only waiting for their posting orders, the concerned ministries and divisions are directed to issue their posting orders within a period of 90 days subject to fulfilment of other codal formalities”.
The IHC also had said, their appointments would be considered permanent from the issuance of notification or joining orders (in respective ministries, divisions, and departments).
The court maintained that “employees, who are already working in different ministries, divisions, and other departments whose services have been regularised; they should not be disturbed as their cases fall within the ambit of past and closed transaction, subject to conditions that they were appointed in accordance with law in a transparent manner”.
While addressing the CADD ministry, specifically, the court said that all (contractual) employees, who have been appointed from BPS-1 to BPS-15, under the control of CADD Ministry against any position be absorbed, regularised against permanent post subject to one time concurrence given by the federal government.
The ministry of CADD now merged into Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training.
The IHC verdict further stated that CADD minister is directed to place the case of teachers, employees and other allied staff of departments under the control of the CADD Ministry before the federal cabinet who shall give its approval within a period of 90 days, the notification in this regard shall be issued forthwith.
Other than Pakistan Council for water and research, and some other federal government institutions, around 1750 daily-wage teaching and non-teaching employees in different institutions of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE). The directorate is the attached body of education ministry and has responsibility of overseeing 423 educational institutions in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government introduced a policy for contractual and daily wagers of the federal government. A sub-committee of the cabinet was formed to further discuss the devised policy and the committee directed regularisation of 100,000 daily wagers, who had been working in various federal departments and ministries.
However, aforementioned organizations’s employees could not be regularized.
Th perturbing employees, particularly of FDE also had staged several protests against this d dilly-dallying approach of the authorities concerned but in vain.
Furthermore, in two different notifications submitted on December 12 and December 22 2017, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training also confirmed regularisation of 63 employees, who had been working in its various allied departments of the FDE.
The daily-wage employees welcomed the apex court decision termed the verdict purely on merit. They said that it was fruit of their patient and years long struggle they are doing.