A three-member Supreme Court bench on Tuesday questioned non-implementation of 7th Wage Board Award, pointing out that there was no stay order against it.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Ghulam Rabbani was hearing three civil petitions for Leave to Appeal (CPLA) filed by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and others against Sindh High Court (SHC) decision on the validity of 7th Wage Board Award. Abdual Hafeez Pirzada appeared for APNS and other media houses whereas Salman Akram Raja appeared for Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). On May 31 a Division Bench of the SHC rejected three different constitutional petitions filed by APNS and other media houses challenging the vires of the Newspapers Employees Conditions of Service Act (NECS) 1973. The Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees had declared that the implementation of the Award was binding on the newspapers owners. The SHC in its verdict had directed the newspaper owners to implement the 7th Award for newspaper employees. During the hearing, Pirzada contended that after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment, the Wage Board Award had become provincial subject whereas the Board was the executive body instead of judicial body.
