ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has refused to overturn the dismissal of a Sindh Police employee who faced punitive action for coming late to work.
The order was issued on the petition filed by Ishtiaq Anwar against the Oct 26, 2022, order of the Sindh Service Tribunal.
The tribunal had “compulsory retired” the petitioner from service over tardiness and truancy.
The order issued by Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, who was heading a two-judge bench, said the appellant used to come late to the office and reasoned that he had to arrange official events because of which he couldn’t report on time.
However, the judge said that had this been the situation, the petitioner could have sought an “exemption” or at least sought permission to arrive late on specific dates when the events were arranged, which he had not done.
Therefore, the was “in itself an admission on the part of the petitioner of coming late without intimation”.
The petitioner’s attendance sheet was placed on record, which revealed that whenever he was on outdoor duty, it was marked as “out working”.
The tribunal’s order also discussed how the petitioner “has put his attendance in the bio-metric record though he was not on duty,” the judgment noted.
The tribunal thoroughly discussed this documentary evidence against the dismissed official, it added.
Based on the facts, Justice Siddiqui noted that the bench “do not find any reason to interfere in the order of the Sindh Service Tribunal Karachi”.
The bench also agreed with the tribunal’s finding that the documentary evidence against the petitioner was compelling and that there was no need to hold an inquiry under the Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000. The two-judge bench upheld the tribunal’s decision and dismissed Mr Anwar’s petition.
Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2025
