IHC to hear a case about service age limit of military officers working at SoP

ISLAMABAD, Oct 04 (SABAH): Islamabad High Court (IHC) will conduct hearing of a case pertaining to service age limit of military officers serving at Survey of Pakistan (SoP), an attached department of Ministry of Defence (MoD).

A reliable source privy to the development revealed to SABAH that SoP’s deputy director named Sanaullah had filed a writ before IHC in connection with violation of rules pertaining to service age limit of military officers serving at SoP.

Through the writ, he alleged that proviso contained under FR-56 and CSR-613 have been continuously violated by the administration of SoP and continued that military officers in the civil employment of SoP have been permitted to remain in civil employment at SoP beyond the prescribed retiring age limit i.e. 55 years till the age of 60 years without obtaining mandatory sanction from the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

 Matter had already been partially heard by Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan of IHC where the petitioner in person pointed out serious violation of Fundamental and Statuary Rules on the part of administration of SoP.

According to details, at the time of filing the writ petition, there were two Army officers in the department serving on Army’s reserved quota beyond the prescribed age of 55 years and in violation of the aforesaid rules. One of the officers retired at the age of 60 years without the sanction of President of Pakistan during the pendency of said petition since 2020 and other officer is presently serving in 58th year of his age.

During the previous hearing held on September 19, 2022, IHC’s Justice Sardar Ejaz Khan maintained that the case is fairy ripe for conclusion and therefore a short date was given to hear the matter on priority on October 03, 2022. During the hearing on this date, respondents side, ironically and being in the state of approbate and reprobate agitated a question of maintainability through a fresh counsel after lapse of more than two years of proceedings and avoided to proceed for merits of the case.

Respondents’ side took plea that the petitioner agitated same matter before Federal Service Tribunal (FST) which was dismissed and the matter is now pending before Supreme Court (SC). The petitioner in person, while submitting his rebuttal stated that the matter, under Section 4 of the Service Tribunal Act, 1973, was agitated by the petitioner under his terms and conditions of service and the same up-to the extent of Quo Warranto was previously solicited from the IHC under Article 199 of the Constitution wherein it is not necessary for the petitioner to be aggrieved even and any citizen of Pakistan can challenge the appointment of any public office holder through a writ of Quo Warranto.

The respondents get the matter before FST dismissed on the plea that “the same matter is pending before IHC, therefore, now the argument from respondents side before IHC that the case is pending in CPLA before the SC is fairly hit by the principle of Estoppel and an expression of aprobate and reprobate.

He further added that pendency of CPLA before SC against the dismissal of the matter by  FST is only up-to the extent that if FST was of the opinion that the matter fell under the ambit of res-subjudice even then as per Section-10 of CPC, the same was required to be stayed instead of its dismissal.

After hearing both the sides, the bench decided to first discuss the question of maintainability of the case before High Court and then to proceed further. Upon this the petitioner requested the bench to give time for necessary assistance of the court on the question of maintainability raised by respondents’ side after two years of proceedings and at the verge of conclusion of the case. The court adjourned the matter till October 19, 2022 for further hearing.

Petitioner Sanaullah adopted the viewpoint in the writ that concept and history of reserved Army quota in survey department as permanent Army element goes back to the era of British Rule and it bears a special purpose and spirit which certainly is in the national interest of Pakistan.

Disciplines of Surveying and Mapping play a role of third eye for the Army in state of any emergency or war that’s why a special quota for Pakistan Army’s Corps of Engineers was reserved in the Survey department as permanent Army element so that, in state of any emergency or war, such trained officers may be available for Pakistan Army to serve the nation.

The services of these Army engineer officers in the Survey department are required to be governed under Special Rules given in the Schedule-V of the Recruitment Rules of Survey of Pakistan, 1985 and  Hand Book of General Instructions, Survey of India 1936 edition, re-printed in 1974 under the direction of the Surveyor General of Pakistan but since 1985, due to the violations of relevant rules and regulations, the nation could not be able to harvest the benefits of the purpose for which such permanent quota was reserved in the department.