KARACHI, Dec 8: The Sindh High Court has restrained the Pakistan Steel Mills from taking any adverse action against its employee sought to be proceeded against for allegedly defaulting on payment of bank loan.

S. Mehmood Rehan, a junior assistant at the PSM since 1995, submitted through Advocate Abdul Razak that he availed of a loan amounting to Rs198,722 from a commercial bank.

The loan facility, called ‘flexi loan’, was obtained to meet certain urgent expenses and was to be repaid in 60 equal installments. He paid all the installments diligently as per terms of the agreement but could not deposit six tranches in time.

Only a sum of Rs12,215 was outstanding when the delay occurred and he amicably settled the matter with the creditor bank soon thereafter.

In the meanwhile, despite his promise to pay off the balance, the bank addressed a letter to the PSM management informing it of his failure to deposit the installments in time.

The management promptly issued him an ‘inquiry notice’. He informed the PSM manager concerned of the full and final settlement of the loan and submitted copies of deposit/payment receipts. The manager, however, proceeded to serve a statement of allegation.

The manager, the petitioner submitted, charged him with ‘damaging the goodwill of the organisation and bringing it a bad name’. He was also accused of breach of trust and good service discipline.

The notice said he was prima facie guilty of ‘misconduct’ rendering him liable to disciplinary action under the Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000. He was given seven days to put in a written defence.

Advocate Razak argued that the provisions of the Removal from Service Ordinance were not attracted to anything done by the petitioner. Failure to repay loan installments in time did not amount to ‘misconduct’ in contemplation of the law, particularly when the entire amount has been repaid. No breach of trust or discipline was involved, yet the petitioner had been threatened with a major penalty to ruin his career in the prime of his life. The petitioner, the counsel said, had no option but to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the high court.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab issued a notice to the respondent management and restrained it from taking any adverse action against the petitioner in the meanwhile.