September 28, 2006	Thursday	Ramazan 4, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: Thousands of employees of autonomous corporations having nonstatutory rules apprehend retrenchment or lengthy and expensive litigation as a consequence of twisted or less than sympathetic interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment of June last by the respective managements.

These employees include several hundred officers and others in the Pakistan International Airline (PIA), most of whom have served the airline for years and are now fearing unemployment if the management terminates their services forcing them to enter into protracted legal battles.

They have expressed serious concern that legal advisers to the PIA may be advising the management to go for litigation, apparently with a self-serving motive that would push the airline and the affected employees to heavy expenditure on legal fees.

The Supreme Court in its verdict ruled that the employees and management of autonomous corporations can revert to relevant forums as last resort for appeals instead of moving the apex court.

Accordingly three categories of employees would be affected by this judgment:

I - Those who have won their cases in the Federal Service Tribunal (FST) and their

cases are pending for appellate adjudication in the Supreme Court.

II - Employees who have won cases in the FST whose judgment has been implemented by the respective corporation which, in some case, also went for an appeal in the Supreme Court.

III - Those who lost cases in the FST but have been granted interim relief by the SC with suspension of operation of impugned orders.

Among these is a special section of those employees who were almost on the verge of closure of their cases in the Supreme Court but would have to revert to the FST or the high courts and suffer fresh litigation.

While all pending appeals in the SC have abated because of its verdict, the affected employees shall have the right to approach the competent forum for redressal of their grievances within 90 days of the date of judgment which expires in the last week of September.