FST gets 10 judges after 10 months

The federal government finally appointed 10 members of the Federal Services Tribunal (FST) on Monday after a delay of 10 months that reignited the hopes of the civil servants, whose cases have long been pending for adjudication.

More than 11,000 cases have piled up with the FST due to delay in the appointment of new members. Six members had retired in December 2020 and since then the FST had remained dysfunctional, causing inordinate delay, difficulties to the government servants and adding to the backlog.

The FST data revealed that a total of 6,127 appeals were pending during the period between January 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. In addition, total 4,994 decisions were pending implementation during that period.

According to a law ministry notification issued on Monday, President Arif Alvi appointed 10 members of FST in MP-1 scale for a non-extendable term of three years, with effect from the date they assume the charge of the post.

The president has appointed five executive and five judicial members for Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, while exercising powers under Section 3(4) of the Service Tribunals Act of 1973.

The notification stated that Muhammad Javed Ghani, Muhammad Mushtaq Jadoon and Dr Muhammad Hashim Popalzai had been appointed as executive members for the federal capital while Dr Mujeebur Rehman Khan and Shahid Ahmed have been appointed as executive members for Lahore and Karachi, respectively.

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It adds that Rana Zahid Mahmood, Imtiaz Ahmed Khan and Asim Akram would work as judicial members at Islamabad while Chaudhry Muhammad Amin Javed and Tauqeer Ahmed Khan were appointed as judicial members for Lahore and Karachi, respectively.

The FST, constituted under Article 212 of the Constitution, adjudicates upon the matter relating to the terms and conditions of civil servants. The tribunal, having exclusive jurisdiction to hear such cases, has the primary objective to provide independent and autonomous forum for adjudication of disputes relating to the conditions of service of the persons in the service of Pakistan.

The tribunal, which is responsible for providing expeditious justice to the civil servants, is currently has only its chairman, former justice, Qazi Khalid Ali. Under the law, he can only issue notices but can’t pass judgment alone.

Litigants have long been facing difficulties as the FST was established to protect the rights and liberties of civil servants, uphold the law and provide peaceful resolution of disputes but due to its non-functioning, it only added to the problems of the civil servants and burden on the national exchequer.

Without the appointments of the FST judges, the fate of more than 11,000 aggrieved civil servants were hanging in balance as the FST couldn’t decide their cases due to its non-functional status for almost a year now.