Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Act: SC rejects pleas seeking suspension of its judgment

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court again turned down pleas to suspend its judgment due to that over 16,000 employees of various government and the semi-government departments were rendered jobless.

A five-judge larger bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, on Wednesday heard the review petitions of the federal government and the sacked employees against its judgment to declare Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Act, 2010 ultra vires of the Constitution and the Civil Servants Act, 1973.

Almost all the counsels representing the sacked employees prayed that till the final order of the Court on the review petitions the judgment be suspended. However, the bench said that from next week they would hear the review petitions on a daily basis and pass a short order.

The bench also dismissed the plea to give medical allowance to the sacked employees.

Raza Rabbani, who represented the sacked employees, informed that his clients are facing miserable condition due to the judgment. He; therefore, requested the court to suspend its own judgment.

Justice Bandial said the Court is aware of their problems, but they have to fulfil the constitutional and the legal requirements. “We also want the employees are reinstated,” he added. He further said that from Monday they would examine the aspect of restoring the sacked employees.

Shah Khawar, also counsel for sacked employees, informed that 30 of his clients have passed away in the aftermath of the judgment. He also prayed before the court to suspend the judgment and said the arguments on the legal aspects of the matter would continue.

Justice Bandial directed all the counsels representing the employees to focus on the legal points of the case, saying the judgment has declared the Act void.

“We need assistance on the legal points.”

Advocate Waseem Sajjad, another counsel of the employees, argued that the there is no precedent that a reserved judgment is announced after 20 months.

Upon that Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed said the decision regarding the restoration of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also came after two years.

Aatizaz Ahsan, another employees’ lawyer, said the judge who had to announce the judgment was removed. When he was restored then the decision on ex-CJP Iftikhar Chaurdhry case was announced.

Justice Mansoor Ali noted that the employees were inducted in violation of the law, adding when the employees were reinstated, they were provided financial protection through the legislation.

He questioned whether the law has room for it?

Justice Bandial said when people are recruited against the law then human rights are violated. He said even if the Court accept that the people were recruited on political basis, adding but they were also removed on political basis. He said it also came to their knowledge that many employees’ contracts had ended. The parliament after restoring such employees provided financial cover.

Justice Mansoor said the employees whose contracts had ended were regularised in 2002. It affected the seniority of those employees recruited in 2006 and 2007, observed Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.

Waseem Sajjad contended that it was not only an issue of seniority. He said the judgment said the Act had affected the fundamental rights of the employees; therefore, the Act is declared null and void.

Advocate Iftikhar Gilani, who also represented the sacked employees, informed that his 173 clients were reinstated under the Ordinance and not the Act, adding the apex court had set aside the Act and not the Ordinance.

Justice Sajjad said the incumbent federal government has approached the Court against the SC judgment. He said if the employees were sacked wrongly then it should restore them. He noted that many departments have not sacked the employees on the expiry of their contracts.

The secretary Establishment Division in September 2021 had filed the review petition under Article 188 of Constitution and cited 93 individuals, who were affected by the judgment, as respondents. It prayed to suspend the operation of the impugned judgment till the final disposal of the review petition.

Justice Mushir Alam, before his retirement (August 17, 2021), delivered the judgment declaring the Act ultra vires and said the effect of such a declaration is that any/all the benefits accrued to be beneficiaries are to be ceased with immediate effect. “The beneficiaries of the Act, 2010, who are still in service, will go back to their previous positions, i.e. to date when the operation of the Act 2010 has taken effect,” the judgment further said.

The review petition contended that the impugned judgment was reserved on 16 December 2019, and was announced on 17 August 2021 i.e. after 20 months, which is against the set principles of due process. The submissions/ arguments of the parties have not been recorded in the judgment, which indicates that due to passage of long period of time, important points that may have been raised by the parties during arguments escaped notice of the bench, which passed the judgment. The case is adjourned until Monday, December 6, 2021.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021