PESHAWAR, March 23: The fate of 400 employees of the defunct Fata Development Corporation hangs in the balance as management of the Civil Secretariat Fata has yet to implement the verdict of the Supreme Court even after lapse of more than eight months, according to the complainants.

They said that management of Fata Secretariat had not only misinterpreted the Supreme Court’s July 22, 2010 judgment, but also concealed actual position from the then governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The employees of the defunct corporation had filed a petition with Peshawar High Court, praying it to declare their status as civil servants. They also demanded all other benefits, including promotions.

The court declared the employees civil servants from the date of their appointment in Fata Development Corporation, which was dissolved in June 2002.

Out of total 853 employees of the defunct corporation, 430 had opted for golden handshake while the rest were placed in the surplus pool and later adjusted in the then Governor Secretariat against vacant posts.

The corporation, created through a regulation in 1970, was tasked to carry out development schemes in irrigation, minerals and other sectors in Fata.

The Fata Secretariat filed appeal against the high court’s decision before the Supreme Court. The advocate general agreed to place these employees in their own terms and conditions.

The Supreme Court judgment said: “They (employees) would be adjusted out of the surplus pool anywhere and against any post as may be deemed appropriate by the government on their existing terms and conditions of service, meaning thereby,

which were applicable at the time when the corporation was dissolved.”

Significantly, secretary administration and coordination of the Fata Secretariat according to the official documents acknowledged that in the light of the Supreme Court’s

judgment those employees were entitled to the same terms and conditions as were applicable to them on the date of dissolution of the corporation, including the right of promotion to higher posts. The document stated that there would be no implications on the finances of the government due to the fact that funds of Rs470 million of the employees of the corporation were available with it. The amount is more than enough to cater to any financial implication whether in pay or allowance for these employees in the next higher grade.

However, a high-level meeting held at the office of the chief secretary in November 2010 opined that decision of the Supreme Court was being fully complied with by Fata Secretariat as the employees were not only getting their emolument as per prevalent pay scales but also annual increase in shape of agreements, increases announced by the government by time to time and gratuity in the ratio allowed to them in the Fata Development Corporation service.

An official of the defunct corporation said that despite the verdicts of Peshawar High Court and Supreme Court in their favour, senior officers of the secretariat misguided former governor Owais Ahmad Ghani and misinterpreted the whole judgment.

He said that the affected employees had been deprived of promotion since their adjustment against vacant posts in the secretariat in 2002.