SC refuses to reinstate sacked employees till final decision

Justice Bandial says bench will try to hold daily hearings from Monday to conclude case at earliest

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court (SC) rejected on Wednesday a plea seeking the reinstatement of over 16,000 government employees on a temporary basis till the final decision in the case.

During the hearing of a case seeking reappointment of the thousands of employees whose recruitment were declared void by the top court, the SC bench rejected the petition that asked to reappoint them along with their medical allowance till the final decision.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the bench will try to hold daily hearings from Monday to conclude the case at the earliest and issue a short ruling by the next week.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said the government itself approached the court for the appointment of the employees. He added the government can reinstate them if it does not agree with the decision to sack employees.

Some of the employees were let go of after their contracts were not renewed, he said, questioning whether these employees should have been reappointed forcefully via a new law, Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act, 2010.

The top court said those employees whose appeals were rejected by the SC were also reinstated. The court struck down the law to reinstate employees because it was ultra vires, the bench added.

Read SC strikes down sacked employees law

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that reinstatement of dismissed employees after 12 years was an injustice to the fresh candidates.

Justice Bandial said there were laws for the reappointment of government servants, but how could the government pay them salaries for the past 12 years when they didn't even work.

Employees' lawyer, Wasim Sajjad, said these people were not young anymore and had schoolgoing children, asking the court for relief.

Justice Sajjad retorted the counsel should only talk about the law in the court, adding that retired employees went to the office one day and were awarded all the perks.

Justice Bandial termed such appointment and rehabilitation of employees unconstitutional and contrary to laws.

“Laws made for specific individuals or individuals have been repealed in the past,” he said while admitting that political vendetta might have been the reason behind the removal of some employees.