LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday restrained the Punjab government from taking coercive measures against private schools with regard to their fee structure and directed it to submit a reply on petitions against newly promulgated Punjab Private Educational Institutions and Regulations (Amendment) Ordinance 2015.

Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza passed the restraining order hearing over 15 petitions filed by All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association and others.

Senior lawyer and rights’ activist Asma Jahangir and Advocate Shahid Hamid represented the petitioners. The counsels mainly argued that the ordinance was in violation of various provisions of the Constitution.

The counsels said the government had resorted to cancelling registrations of private schools for not obeying its directive regarding the fee structure.

They asked the court to stop the government from taking coercive measures against the schools and strike down the ordinance for being unconstitutional.

Justice Mirza restrained the government and District Registration Authority from taking coercive action against the petitioners and sought their reply by Nov 5.

BISE union: The Lahore High Court set aside on Tuesday the registration of an employees’ union of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Lahore, as a trade union, which was registered by the Trade Union Registrar.

Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi passed this order allowing a petition filed by the BISE and observed that the services of board’s employees fell under the ambit of “essential service” in the light of a notification by the Punjab governor.

The judge ruled the BISE mainly concerned with the regulation of educational system and its working was purely objective oriented and under no stretch of imagination could be held as commercial or industrial in nature. The formation of a trade union and its registration by the Registrar of the Trade Union appeared to be based on mala fide and done with a view to misuse the provisions of the Punjab Industrial Relations Act, 2010.

In another identical case, Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza also set aside an order of the Trade Union Registrar with regard to registration of the Ittehad Workers Union at the Unilever Foods Pakistan.

The Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited challenged the registration of the trade union at its plant on Multan Road.

Advocate Taffazul Rizvi argued that the petitioner-organisation was a trans-provincial establishment and the Trade Union Registrar had no authority and jurisdiction to register any trade union and the same fell squarely within the ambit of National Industrial Relation Commission.

He argued that the Trade Union Registrar, despite knowing the facts, registered the Ittehad Workers Union Unilever Foods Pakistan and refused to seek the withdrawal of registration of the same from the Labour Court.

After hearing the contention, Justice Mirza annulled the order of the Trade Union Registrar with regard to the registration of the said trade union.

Published in Dawn, October 7th , 2015

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