March 27, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 23, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 26: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to hear the appeal of the federal government against the order of the Federal Service Tribunal in which it had rejected the federal government’s decision to subject promotions from Grade 17 to 18 to examinations.

The Tribunal had rejected an office memorandum on the Career Management and Grooming of Officers issued by the Nawaz government but given effect by the Musharraf government.

Some of the officers affected by the new order had approached the FST questioning the legality of the order and said that it had “vitally affected the terms and conditions” of officials serving in the status or equalling position of a Section Officer.

The SC bench consisted of Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed, Justice Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari.

The Office Memo required eligible officers to pass the promotion examination within three years and its para three laid down that failure to appear in the examination would amount to “inefficiency” and may invite removal from service under the Civil Servants Act and Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance of 2000.

In its short order admitting the appeal for regular hearing the judges also noted that the DAG had not stressed on para three of the office memorandum but it was issuing notice to the original petitioners to hear their other objections.

Accepting the government appeal moved by the Deputy Attorney-General, Hafiz S A Rahman, here on Tuesday, the SC bench assigned the case to the Fixture Branch to assign it a date for regular hearing.

The DAG had justified the promotion examinations on the ground that powers to lay down conditions for improving efficiency were provided in the Constitution, and in making promotions conditional to success in prescribed examinations was not discriminatory.

The FST, while conceding the right of a government to regulate for the improvement in the quality of its personnel, had held that it could be at the time of the initial entry into government jobs by making the admission “more and more stringent.” Once it was done, the Tribunal ruled the promotions should be strictly on the basis of “seniority-cum-fitness.”

In its appeal against the FST decision the federal government questioned the right of the Tribunal to declare the new rule as void or illegal and ineffective and requested the Supreme Court to reverse the situation

The same bench in another case on Tuesday accepted for regular hearing an appeal filed by the Utility Stores Corporation against the decision of the Federal Service Tribunal that had reversed the retrenchment of its 23 officers.

Advocate Mohammad Jaffer, representing the USC, argued the petition for leave and succeeded in persuading the top court to hear the matter at length.

The counsel argued that FST had no jurisdiction to decide the case as the Utility Stores Corporation was a private limited company.

He said the Tribunal had wrongly extended its jurisdiction over the USC and reversed the retrenchment of its officers. The Corporation’s employees did have not the statutory protection that was afforded to the public servants and guaranteed under the Constitution, he argued.

The counsel also said the services of employees of private companies could be dispensed with by serving them with a month’s notice or payment of that period’s salary in lieu.

The regular hearing of the case will now commence when the fixture branch allocates a date for it.

The SC bench consisted of Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed, Justice Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari.