ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: A two-member bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered reinstatement of 43 employees of the NWFP government. The employees, including engineers and graduates, were given jobs by the provincial government in 1988 in the rural development sector after completing all formalities. Their services were terminated in 2003.

The bench, comprising Justice Hamid Ali Mirza and Justice Nasirul Mulk, reinstated the employees when NWFP Additional Advocate-General Mohammad Isa Khan accepted certain mistakes of the provincial government during the process of employment and afterwards.

However, the bench dismissed a petition of Khalid Nasim, another employee, on the basis of his late entry into the department which could not be considered according to the employment Act 1990 of the provincial government on regularization of contractual employees.

Senior advocates Mohammad Akram Sheikh, Abdul Rehman Siddiqui and Mohammad Aslam Ans appeared before the court as counsels of the petitioners.

The employees were given increments besides other facilities as permissible to civil servants. The additional advocate-general, however, said all the 44 employees were given employment for a specific project on temporary basis.

Akram Sheikh said all the employees served for about 15 years and they were not served any notice by the department during the service.

The employees had earlier filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court, which was dismissed, after which they appealed against the decision in the Supreme Court.

The apex court directed the employees to approach the Federal Services Tribunal (FST) but a bench of the FST refused to hear the case by taking the plea that the matter was outside their jurisdiction.

Justice Nasirul Mulk took serious note of the plea taken by the FST and said non-compliance with the decision of the apex court was a clear contempt of court.—APP