Supreme Court reinstates only Grade 1 to 7 sacked employees

ISLAMABAD, December 17: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has rejected the review appeals of the federal government and 16,000 employees against the annulment of the Sacked Employees Act with four to one verdict.
However, the court has reinstated BPS 1 to 7 employees and made restoration of other government servants working in grade 8 and above conditional with the departmental test.
The only note of dissent came from Justice Mansoor Ali Shah who contested the decision. The short verdict was announced on Friday by a larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial. The detailed judgement will be released later.
As per the judgement, the employees working in BPS 1 to 7 will be restored and their case will be heard under Article 184/3. However, the employees working in grade 8 and above will have to pass the departmental examination.
The court made it clear that those employees who were fired on charges of corruption and misconduct, their sacking would remain intact. The verdict further explained that those who were recruited between a period of 1996 and 1999 and did not pass the test, they would have to clear the exam.
But those employees who were hired after taking exam in that period, they are not required to pass the exam again, the judgment added. The Supreme Court observed that the Sacked Employees Act, 2010 was in contravention of the Constitution.
In his contesting note, Justice Mansoor wrote that in a democratic setup, only the parliament is supreme. Downgrading the parliament is tantamount to downgrade the democracy, he observed. He stated that the Clause IV of the Parliament Act is in conflict with the Section 4 and Section 10 of the Constitution which needs to be reviewed.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict in the review petitions filed against the declaration of Sacked Employees Act, 2010 null and void.
While giving his remarks yesterday, Justice Bandial said it should be borne in mind that although the case was the subject of ‘review’, it had expanded even beyond that. “As a matter of fact, it was heard from the very start,” he said, adding the court had defined the laws afresh.
“There are certain fundamental principles for recruitment in government offices. There are judicial precedents which lay down the rule that recruitments should be done on ‘merit’,” he remarked. He said that a large number of government employees had been affected by the annulment of the Act.
“It is our endeavor that justice is done in the case and people’s basic rights are protected. At the same time, let me emphasize that although we are sympathetic towards the affectees, for us, the constitution and laws of the land are still of paramount importance,” he said, and made it clear even if the apex court would give any concessions to the sacked employees, these would be in the light of the laws and the constitution.
Lawyers hailed the Supreme Court decision. Talking to media outside the court, the lawyers said that Justice Mansoor accepted all the review appeals of the sacked employees except for those who were dismissed on four other categories. -DNA