Fresh appointments: Punjab Service Tribunal becomes functional

The backlog of pending cases has reached 12,000.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Service Tribunal has become functional with notification for appointment of three of its six members.

The PST had been defunct since March 25, 2013 when a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry declared all appointments at federal service tribunal and all four provincial service tribunals illegal.

During the 10-month period that PST was not functional, the backlog of pending cases reached 12,000.

The new appointments include Multan District and Sessions Judge Sarwar Saleemullah, Local Government and Community Development Director General Maqsood Ahmed, Services and General Administration Department member Shahid Ahmed Bhutta.

Bhutta joined on January 1. Saleemullah and Bhutta were appointed with immediate effect. Their relevant notifications were issued on December 27 and December 30, respectively.

Maqsood Ahmed will assume duties after January30, 2014, that is, after scheduled local government elections. His joining may be delayed as a result of postponement of local government elections.

Three posts remain vacant and there seems to be no move to fill these posts so far.

Implementation and Coordination Secretary Ali Tahir told The Express Tribune summaries for appointment of rest of the members have not yet been prepared.

He could not give a time of when they would be appointed.

Sources in the PST told The Express Tribune that the number of pending cases at the PST has reached 12,000.

An officer from the Revenue Department, who has challenged his termination before the PST, told The Express Tribune that in the 10 months he had seen several government employees approach the tribunal. He said they only received court dates but no saw progress.

He said if the remaining seats of the members were not filled, the three members and the chairman would take a long time to dispose the pending cases.

The Supreme Court bench had declared appointments at service tribunals as illegal and given 30 days to law secretaries to implement the judgment.

“If no steps are taken within the stipulated time, either through temporary or permanent legislation, the incumbent chairman/members of the tribunals shall seize to hold said positions, as the case may be,” the court held.

The bench held that the matters regarding appointment of the chairman and members of the service tribunals were as important as those of judges of the high courts and must be made in consultation with the chief justice concerned.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2014.