ISLAMABAD: Attorney General (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan presented a set of proposals on behalf of the federal government in the sacked employees case to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The government has proposed that the employees in lower grades be reinstated forthwith while those in higher grades go through the recruitment procedure of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) afresh.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench is hearing a set of petitions seeking review of an Aug 17 judgement that rendered almost 17,000 government employees jobless. The court dropped hints that it could wrap up the issue on Thursday (today).

On the eve of his retirement, Justice Mushir Alam had on Aug 17 declared as illegal and unconstitutional a PPP-era law, known as the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act 2010 (SERA), under which a large number of people were employed or promoted.

Asked what proposals the government intended to put in place, the AGP explained that he wanted to reiterate his primary submission that the Aug 17 judgement be recalled and all the employees reinstated.

And in case the apex court refuses to review the judgement, Khalid Jawed added, the government has thrashed out a four-point proposal and placed it before the bench. The government has proposed that employees from BS-1 to 7, or equivalent, and working in departments, autonomous bodies or corporations before the Aug 17 judgement, be allowed to continue their services with effect from Wednesday (Dec 15) in the light of the apex court’s previous verdicts.

The employees from Grade 1 to 7 are the most affected and it is heart-breaking to see them protesting on the streets, the AGP lamented.

A large number of employees from different parts of the country gathered outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday and raised slogans like “we want justice”.

According to data provided by the Establishment Division, the number of employees sacked by 38 divisions of the federal government was 5,947.

The AGP said he had discussed the proposals with Prime Minister Imran Khan and if the court gave its approval, the process of implementation would start forthwith.

Employees in BS-8 to 17 will have to undergo a prescribed process or test to be conducted by the Federal Public Service Commission.

The commission will determine whether these officers are fit to hold the post to which they were appointed earlier. This exercise should be completed within three months, the government proposed.

The past service of these individuals will be treated as ad hoc and would not be counted for the purpose of seniority, which would be based on the date or regular appointment after recommendation of the FPSC.

About the employees who have retired from service or passed away, the AGP said their cases may be treated as past and closed transaction. They will not be entitled to pension as their services were never regularised constitutionally, he added.

Three million lives affected

Abdul Latif Afridi, who represented employees from the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) and the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), said the case related not only to the 16,000 sacked employees but also to their three million dependents.

“Their joblessness with stroke of a pen has created a humanitarian crisis,” he added.

The counsel said the Supreme Court always invokes its original suo motu jurisdiction in the larger public interest. “These employees are the real public,” Latif Afridi argued, wondering whether the fundamental rights of only “hattay kattay mottay tazay” (the wealthy and influential) were breached and not of people like those who were on the streets.

“Was it the fault of these employees if their appointments had procedural lapses,” the counsel argued.

PSO story

Faisal Siddiqui, who represented the Pakistan State Oil, explained that under a talent pool scheme initiated by the PSO, around 150 persons were employed over two decades ago. But their services were terminated in 1997.

However, 44 of them were reinstated with back benefits by the apex court after holding their termination illegal. The remaining cases were dismissed by the Federal Services Tribunal on grounds that their appeals were premature and had not exhausted departmental remedies.

The counsel argued that none of the sacked employees were reinstated under SERA and neither the PSO nor any of the employees was a party in the Aug 17 judgement, but the organisation sacked all the employees reinstated under SERA through an Aug 31 circular.

The order deprived the employees of their provident funds, gratuity, medical allowances and pensions on the grounds that the Aug 17 court verdict said payments made over three years were to be recovered in lump sum.

Faisal Siddiqui said legislation conferring rights or imposing liability cannot be struck down for not mentioning logical and precise reasons of the law from the text of the statute.

A statute can only be struck down if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious or whimsical, the counsel contended.

Citing previous judgements, Faisal Siddiqui said a piece of legislation cannot be struck down on the grounds that objects and reasons were not clearly stated. Since there were no victims of discrimination in the cases like that of the PSO, SERA cannot be described as ex facie discriminatory, but only discriminatory in practice and, therefore, cannot be held illegal.

He contended that the legislature can nullify the effect of a judgement both in terms of its precedent value as well as the rights accrued to the respective parties under the judgement if it can remove the defect on the basis of which the judgement was pronounced.

He observed that no termination could take place without show-cause proceedings and in the present case the employees were dismissed through an omnibus order.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2021