Back to the ‘irregular grind’

• IHC suspends order declaring regularisation of employees void

Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the order of a single bench, which had declared recommendations of the pervious government’s cabinet subcommittee, for the regularisation of daily wages and contract employees of the federal government, as void.

A two member bench of IHC headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi and Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi suspended the order and issued notices to the federation, secretaries if Cabinet Division and Establishment Division on a number of pleas seeking nullification of single bench order.

On May 29, Justice Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui had declared the sub-committee of previous cabinet on regularization of government employees headed by Syed Khursheed Shah as unconstitutional, also ordering the termination of such employees regularized, pursuant to its recommendations.

During the course of hearing,counsel for petitioners, Raja Amir Abbbas,apprised the bench that around 1,15000 regular employees were affected by the decision of the single bench order.

He argued that the learned Single Bench of the Court has drawn a conclusion that services of the employees have been regularized without adhering to the provided criteria merely on presumptions and assumption whereas during the entire proceedings not a single case has been brought on record showing that the same did not possess the requisite qualification/age/experience etc.

The Judge has not appreciated the facts that the Cabinet Committee in its decision had only recommended that a class of contract and daily wages employees fulfilling the laid criteria should be considered for regularization and to be regularized in accordance with the rules of appointments.

It is a settled principle, approved by the Apex Court that the policy decision of the Government cannot be decided by the Courts and any intervention in the policy matter of the Government would effect the principle of tricotomy of powers, Raja added.

He contended that thousands of employees are to be effected by means of judgment impugned, who were never provided any opportunity of hearing and order has been passed behind their back effecting their status which is against the principle of audi altrum partum and is not sustainable in the eyes of law.

The learned single bench of this Court has wrongly relied upon the judgment of the supreme Court passed in EOBI case which is based on different grounds and facts and has no relevance with the instant case. He prayed the court to set-aside the Judgement declaring regularization of employees as illegal.

In previous Government, Cabinet sub Committee, Headed by Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the then cabinet sub-committee had regularized the services of thousands of contractual and daily wage employees in various ministries, corporations and autonomous bodies.