Legal setback for reinstated government servants

The Islamabad High Court has issued an order to halt the implementation of the recommendations made by the National Assembly's Special Committee on Affected Employees regarding the reinstatement and regularization of government servants.

This decision represents a significant setback for numerous government employees who were terminated for various reasons but subsequently reinstated, as well as thousands who were regularized despite having held contractual, daily wage, or contingent positions.

The court's verdict emphasized that government departments or ministries that had adhered to the committee's recommendations should rescind these orders.

Justice Moshin Akhtar Kayani, in his judgment, specifically noted that organizations like the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI), Capital Development Authority (CDA), Overseas Pakistan Foundation (OPF), Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should not comply with the committee's recommendations.

The court upheld all the petitions filed against the special committee's recommendations and deemed disciplinary actions taken against officers for not following the committee's directives as illegal.

It asserted that the special committee had exceeded its assigned powers, as per the rules of business of the National Assembly, and highlighted that the federal government had not endorsed the recommendations.

The judgment underscored that the recommendations of the special committee lacked legal status and criticized the committee for issuing instructions directly to government departments instead of merely sending recommendations to parliament. Notably, the committee had ordered the reinstatement of 358 employees dismissed by a court order.

The IHC observed that the committee's actions suggested it operated above the law and beyond its constitutional mandate, potentially disrupting the allocation of authority within government departments.

The committee had even issued show-cause notices to FIA officers for criminal proceedings that held no legal standing.

It was pointed out that there were no rules permitting the committee to summon government departments and issue orders to them.

Departments like PSM and EOBI had contested the special committee's recommendations concerning terminated employees, asserting that it had directed them to regularize contract, daily wage, and contingent workers, and had even directed action against the EOBI chairman, education ministry, and others for not implementing its recommendations.

The National Assembly Special Committee for Affected Employees, led by then PPP MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhail, was established on October 12, 2022. The committee had issued orders stating that all employees who had entered into service on a contract, daily wage, or contingent basis by November 30, 2022, in any government department nationwide were eligible for regularization.

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