KARACHI, Sept 29: The Federal Service Tribunal allowed on Monday the appeal of a Pakistan Railways employee against his summary dismissal from service under the Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000.

Senior reservation supervisor Moula Bakhsh Phul, a grade 16 official who joined the railways as a ticket collector in 1968, alleged that he was awaiting further promotion when he was prematurely transferred from Karachi to Rawalpindi by the PR headquarters general manager in February 2001.

He submitted through Advocate Mohammad Nawaz Shaikh that he was victimized for not accommodating the GM’s family in a two-berthed coupe, which he had already booked for a couple, in Karachi Express on January 28, 2001. He instead reserved two berths in a sleeper for the passengers recommended by the GM. The GM got the reservation chart altered at the last moment through a reservation officer but the couple, which had a confirmed reservation slip, had by then occupied their seats.

The official made a representation against his transfer but joined service at Rawalpindi in the meanwhile. Subsequently, he was served with a show-cause notice containing vague and general allegations. He denied the allegations but was asked to appear before an inquiry officer while admitted in a Rawalpindi hospital. The Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance came in handy to the GM and he was dismissed under the new law in November 2001 without further proceedings under the efficiency and discipline rules. Following a departmental representation, the punishment was commuted to compulsory retirement in April 2002.

According to the appellant, the matter was brought to the notice of the PR vigilance directorate, which found the dismissal ‘incorrect’. In a letter to the then railway minister, the directorate said a harsh and unjust punishment was awarded to the official out of vindictiveness. The allegations against him, it said, were unsubstantiated and there was no case for his dismissal.

The appellant submitted that he was promoted senior supervisor in May 1999 after years of satisfactory service but was penalized by his out-of-turn transfer before the completion of 15 months’ posting at Karachi. Ultimately, he was deprived of his job.