ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday regretted the treatment meted out to teachers by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government by discontinuing their conveyance allowance during summer and winter vacations and observed that it did not find any irregularity or perversity in the judgments passed by the service tribunal.

“The future development and wellbeing of every country is highly dependent on good educationists, being a vivid source of learning, achievements and enlightenment for the benefit of their students,” observed Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar but regretted that the discriminatory treatment with teachers was totally ill-founded, prejudicial and inequitable.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, a three-judge Supreme Court bench had taken up a joint appeal moved by KP chief secretary and provincial secretary of elementary and secondary education and higher education, archives and libraries department.

The appeals were instituted against different judgments of the Peshawar High Court of Nov 2019, Feb 2020 and March 2021, which upheld the plea moved before it by 76 certified teachers in KP’s elementary and secondary education department in Grade 15.

The KP government discontinued conveyance allowance during summer and winter vacations, which previously was admissible to teachers. They approached KP service tribunal, which allowed their plea, but the KP government took the stance that tribunal’s order suffers from illegality, factually incorrect and in violation of a notification issued for the discontinuation of conveyance allowance during vacations.

While dismissing the appeal of KP officials, the SC observed non-payment or deduction of conveyance allowance would amount to violation of fundamental rights.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2022