LAHORE: The Supreme Court has ruled that an appeal stands time-barred if the registrar office’s objections are not removed within the period of limitation.

Several employees of the Bank of Punjab had challenged their dismissal from service before a labour court in Lahore in 2004, however, their petitions were dismissed in 2005. Later, they filed appeals before the Lahore High Court (LHC) under the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002. The high court remanded the matter back to the labour court where the petitions were again dismissed on merit in 2007.

The employees once again filed appeals before the LHC, however, this time the judicial branch of the registrar’s office raised some objections over the appeals and the appellants were granted three days to remove the objections. The complainants took six months to remove the objections and re-filed the appeals that the court heard and issued notices to the bank and other respondents.

During the pendency of the appeals, Industrial Relations Act (IRA) 2008 was promulgated and the appeals were mechanically transferred to Punjab Labour Appellate Tribunal. The tribunal allowed the appeals in 2009 and the bank challenged the decision before the LHC.

The high court allowed the bank’s appeal and set aside the tribunal’s decision in 2010 on the grounds that the appeals were time-barred.

Consequently, the terminated employees filed appeals before the apex court and the verdict was reserved last week, as a three-judge bench concluded its proceedings at the Lahore registry.

Representing the appellants, Advocate Salman Haider Jafri argued that the LHC erred in the law in ignoring the fact that the tribunal had duly considered the question of limitation and had condoned the delay by recording valid and legally sustainable reasons.

On behalf of the bank, Advocate Ahmad Jamal Sukhera argued that the appeals were initially filed within the 30-day period of limitation. However, he said, the objections were raised by the office and appeals were duly returned to the appellants for the removal of the objections and re-filing within three days.

He said it was an admitted fact that the appeals were re-filed after six months when these appeals had already become time-barred. He further said that at the time the appeals were filed before the LHC, the jurisdiction to hear such appeals vested in the high court in terms of Section 47 of the IRA 2008.

The judgment authored by Justice Ahsan holds that the tribunal neither had the power nor the jurisdiction to determine whether or not the objections raised by the LHC registrar office were valid. It observes that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction either to condone the delay or to revive the appeals which had already become barred by time.

“This is without prejudice and in addition to our view that the order of the tribunal was without jurisdiction,” adds the judgment.

It rules that due to filing of incompetent and invalid appeals, a vested right in limitation accrued to the respondent (bank) which could only have been taken away by express legislation which is not the case here.

“We do not find any merit in these appeals. The same are accordingly dismissed,” it concludes.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2020