ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to submit a petition seeking the withdrawal of another SC decision on regularisation of contract employees in Karachi.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Azmat Saeed, was hearing multiple petitions regarding the national flag carrier.
PIA counsel Naeem Bukhari sought permission for recruitment in the airline. On March 31, 2018, the apex court had placed a ban on new recruitment in the airline.
The counsel argued that the SC’s Karachi registry had ordered the PIA administration to regularise all the airline’s contract employees in Karachi. He contended that the SC’s earlier order on ban on recruitment refrained the airline from executing its latter order to regularise the employees.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that the PIA had already inducted much more employees than it requires. Justice Saeed asked why the PIA counsel didn’t inform the bench in Karachi about SC’s earlier order regarding the ban on fresh employees.
Advocate Bukhari told that the court that the bench was hearing the case in Karachi and he was not representing the PIA in that case.
Justice Saeed asked the counsel to submit a plea against the SC’s order on regularisation of employees and said that it was not possible that a court would issue two contradictory orders.
He also directed the PIA to take action on its 10-year audit report. “It’s time for the PIA to take its own responsibility,” Justice Saeed said and adjourned the hearing of the case for an indefinite period.
