KARACHI, June 15: The Federal Service Tribunal admitted to regular hearing on Saturday an appeal moved by 28 PIA technicians against their alleged supersession.

The appellants have questioned the promotion of 29 fellow technicians “junior to them in service and experience” as aircraft engineers. They said they were ignored despite their seniority and eligibility for promotion.

Appearing for the appellants, advocate Mohammad Nawaz Shaikh submitted that the impugned promotion orders were purportedly issued under rules framed in the year 2000 to confer discretionary powers on the airline’s management. However, the rules were repugnant to the PIA Act, 1958, as the management was not competent to circumvent the parent law by framing rules in derogation of it. The Act clearly declared that no rules could be framed without the sanction and approval of the federal government.

The promotion rules framed in 2000 did not carry the federal government approval and were, therefore, ultra vires. Any decision taken under them was liable to be struck down.

Admitting the appeals, an FST bench, comprising Justice Amanullah Abbasi and Iftikhar Hussain, fixed July 7 for their regular hearing.