ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday ruled that the continuation of appointments made to the Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-Peira) under a temporary ordinance, which has since lapsed, would stand in direct negation of the will of parliament.

The observation came as a three-judge FCC bench, headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, set aside the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) March 27, 2023 directions to restore two officials who had been appointed on a permanent basis under the temporary ordinance.

“A temporary instrument cannot create an indefeasible, permanent right or liability unless that permanence is subsequently validated and adopted through an Act of parliament with retrospective effect,” observed Justice Aamer Farooq in a 17-page judgment authored by him.

The three-judge FCC bench, also comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, had taken up an appeal filed by the Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-Peira) against the high court’s directions.

Court rules continuation of two ICT-Peira officials would negate parliament’s will

The dispute before the FCC was whether appointments made under the Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Ordinance, 2009, continued to remain valid despite its repeal and the subsequent enactment of the (ICT-Peira) Act, 2013, which did not save the actions previously undertaken under the ordinance.

The controversy originated from an advertisement issued on July 13, 2009, through which the erstwhile Ministry of Education, later succeeded by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (Ministry of FE&PT) following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, invited applications for various permanent posts in ICT-Peira.

Consequently, Imtiaz Ali Qureshi and Waqas Mahmood participated in the selection process and were appointed Member (Academics) and Member (Registration), respectively, after a four-member Selection Board scrutinised their candidatures.

Their appointments were later challenged before the IHC on the grounds that under the Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Chairman and Member (Academic) and Member (Registration) (Appointment and Qualifications) Rules, 2015, such appointments were required to be for a period of three years, whereas the two officials had been appointed on a permanent basis.

Subsequently, the high court directed that the matter be referred to the federal cabinet for regularisation of the appointments, but no decision was taken. Meanwhile, the Law and Justice Division, in its opinion, held that the 2015 Rules would apply prospectively and that the appointments of the Member (Academics) and Member (Registration) could not be converted into tenured appointments.

On Nov 16, 2021, the Ministry of FE&PT submitted another summary to the federal cabinet, maintaining that the appointments were illegal as they had been made in the absence of rules, and recommending the termination of their services with immediate effect.

Justice Farooq observed that granting service rights perpetual existence would amount to giving the executive absolute authority to legislate at its discretion.

Undoubtedly, the legislative instruments under which Mr Qureshi and Mr Mahmood claimed to have acquired permanent status were temporary statutes, the judgment noted.

Citing previous judgments, Justice Farooq emphasised that the repeated re-promulgation of ordinances defeats the broader legislative purpose and directly encroaches upon the exclusive prerogative of the legislature to enact laws through the regular constitutional process.

“In our constitutional scheme, parliament is the exclusive law-making institution and the power to promulgate an ordinance is an exception reserved solely for emergencies,” the judgment explained.

Notwithstanding the absence of regulatory rules at the time the appointments of Mr Qureshi and Mr Mahmood were made, the court held that they could not have been appointed on a permanent basis when the underlying law under which they were appointed was temporary in nature.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2026