ISLAMABAD, May 8: The fate of more than 7,000 aggrieved civil servants and pensioners hangs in the balance because the Federal Service Tribunal (FST) that is to decide their cases has been non-functional since April 12.

The tribunal that serves as a court where appeals are registered and heard is without a head since the departure of its last chairman, Justice (retired) Chaudhry Mohammad Arif, and so lacks judicial dispensation in service matters and pension cases.

A senior official of the law ministry said the ministry had not been able to recommend names to President Pervez Musharraf for a new chairman because “we are busy somewhere else”.

Over 7,500 cases are pending since Justice Arif’s two-year tenure ended in April.

According to a source in the FST, “These cases pertain to terminations, dismissals or delayed promotions and other issues in which people have been treated against the terms and conditions of their employments.”

Appointment of a new chairman had taken as long as four to five months before, he said, adding that: “The new appointment can take as long or even longer depending on how long the law ministry takes to present the case to the president and whether the new person is willing to accept the job.”

The chairmen are usually retired judges of the high courts and Supreme Court.

In his two-year tenure, Justice Arif, who had also been a law teacher for 23 years, decided at least 10,000 cases.