SC sets aside PHC judgment declaring K-P civil servant act unconstitutional

The Supreme Court (SC) set aside on Thursday the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) decision to declare the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Civil Servant Amendment Act, 2019 unconstitutional, hereby restoring the act.

Earlier this year, the PHC had declared the K-P government's act of increasing retirement age of government servants from 60 to 63 years, by amending the civil servants law, unconstitutional.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, heard the appeal filed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government. 

The bench has referred the matter back to the PHC for a fresh judgment.

The counsel for the civil servants told the court that the act set the age of retirement at 55 years, arguing that the bill was passed in the provincial assembly without any discussion.

The chief justice remarked that the law cannot be ruled wrong on the reservations of some civil servants.

"Exemptions alone do not challenge the law. It is the government's job to make the law and the court's job to enforce them. The law is made as per the Constitution and not Rules of Business," the CJP remarked.

Furthermore, Justice Muneeb Akhtar stated that anyone who had any objection regarding the proceedings of the assembly should approach the assembly for their complaint to be redressed.

"It is pointless to ask where the flour came from when the bread is already cooked," he said, adding that the matter came to an end when the bill was signed into law by the governor.