Govt can reinstate over 16,000 employees if it does not agree with apex court decision to sack them: SC


ISLAMABAD, Dec 01 (SABAH): The Supreme Court of Pakistan 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 nearly 144 petitions seeking reappointment of the thousands of employees whose recruitment were declared void by the top court three-member bench headed by former senior most judge justice Mushir Alam, the five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Aminuddin Khan 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.

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“Laws made for specific individuals or individuals have been repealed in the past,” he said while admitting that political vendetta might have been the reason behind the removal of some employees.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial while adjourned the hearing on the petitions till next Monday remarked that the court will conduct hearing on the petitions from Monday on daily basis.