KARACHI, March 15: A bench of the Supreme Court has directed the PIA to reinstate the employees it had sacked despite a judgment of the Federal Service Tribunal which remained operative.

The bench, comprising Justice Iftekhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Hamid Ali Mirza and Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, passed the order in the petition of appellants Abdul Hafeez Abbasi and others.

The bench observed that a cursory glance on the facts narrated would reveal that the appellants filed civil suits against termination of their services in the High Court of Sindh. When the suits were pending, section 2-A was added in the Service Tribunals Act 1973, according to which the employees of the corporation owned by the government acquired a right to agitate their grievance before the Service Tribunal, being civil servants for limited purpose. Therefore, on promulgation of section 2-A in Service Tribunal Act, the PIAC itself filed application before trial court/High Court of Sindh, contending that the suits filed by the employees have abated.

Ultimately, their plea was accepted leaving the employees to avail remedy before the Service Tribunal.

Now the question was whether the employees whose suits were abated were bound to follow strictly the procedure laid down under section 4 of the Services Tribunal Act 1973.

The bench observed that a civil servant, under the Civil Servants Act, is obliged to file an appeal to the department under the Statutory Rules meant for seeking departmental remedy before invoking jurisdiction of the Service Tribunal, and if such rules have not been framed then he is obliged to appeal to the next higher authority of the department under section 22 (2) of the Civil Servants Act.

But as far as employees of the PIAC are concerned, they are not civil servants for the purpose of Civil Servant Act under section 2 (2) of the Act. Neither there is any statutory rules or forum created by a statute to entertain such appeals/revisions.

In addition, as for as departmental authorities are concerned, they also do not enjoy statutory powers to entertain departmental appeal filed by aggrieved employees being members of the Corporation, which is being run by a board of governors.

The bench was inclined to accede to the contention that after passing of the judgment dated 29.5.2001 by Federal Service Tribunal, the PIAC had an obligation to honour it and reinstate the employees — Abdul Hafeez Abbasi and others. If the PIAC had any reservation in not implementing the judgment then a stay order should have been obtained by them from this Court.

No stay order was obtained by the PIAC, therefore, the judgment of the Federal Service Tribunal remained operative, the bench held and directed the PIA that the employees be reinstated with effect from the date of passing of the impugned judgment by the FST with all back benefits.