The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday directed the federation to increase a special allowance of 20 percent on the current basic pay of all government employees as it was granted to the officials of the ministries and divisions.
The court admitted a number of pleas and ordered that the raise in salary be implemented with effect from March 1, 2013.
A single member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui issued the directives after hearing 23 identical petitions filed by the employees of Pakistan Council for Science and Technology including other departments for seeking a raise of 20 percent in the basic salaries as being availed by the ministries’ employees.
During the course of the hearing, counsel for petitioner Asad Hussain Ghalib, GM Chaudhry argued that the petitioners and other employees were equally entitled to all benefits extended to the employees of ministry serving in the same scale and under same terms and conditions.
“All employees are equally entitled and eligible for the same benefits, salary, allowance and special allowances which are being extended to the employees of other allied departments,” he said.
They asked the court to direct the ministry of finance and Prime Minister Secretariat to pay the 20 percent special allowance to the petitioners and other employees of the department. Additional finance secretary apprised the bench that there was no special allowance which could be given to corporations and other government departments’ employees. Justice Siddiqui observed that all government employees should be equally treated and discriminatory attitude would not be tolerated.
After hearing the arguments, the bench admitted the petitions and adjourned the matter for an indefinite period.