Legal battle continues as KP decides to sack 2,500 ex-servicemen

PESHAWAR: Though the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to terminate the services of the fighting force of 2,500 ex-servicemen from June 30, the legal battle of the affectees for regularisation of their services is continuing.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, through the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, acquired the services of retired Pakistan Army soldiers in June 2009 on temporary basis to counter militancy and insurgency in Malakand division and some other parts of the province including Hangu, Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar.

A few days ago, the provincial government issued a notification stating that the service of the ex-servicemen were no longer required and would stand terminated from June 30.On the other hand, the ex-servicemen have been fighting a legal battle against the provincial government since 2015 at the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and seeking their regularisation as special police force.

A division bench comprising Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Syed Afsar Shah last Friday fixed June 2 for hearing of the contempt of court petition filed by the ex-servicemen.The court had issued contempt of court notice to secretary Home and Tribal Affairs, inspector general of police (IGP) and commandant Elite Force and directed them to submit reply as to why the petitioners were not regularised.

The ex-servicemen claimed in the petition that the high court disposed of their petition in December 2015 after the provincial government through the Advocate General office promised that it would regularise their services.

They said the provincial government committed contempt of court by issuing notification for termination of their services. In the petition, the petitioners stated that they should also be regularised as was done by the federal government in Islamabad. “We had accepted the provincial government offer to join the special police force with assurance of the Pakistan Army that we would be appointed on permanent basis,” said Muhammad Iqbal, who along with other ex-servicemen has filed the petition. They also produced a letter issued by the Pakistan Army in May 2009 which stated that their appointments would be made on permanent basis.

“We have fought against the militants in ‘no-go areas’ of Malakand division including Swat and Buner districts,” the petition said, adding that they have also lost their colleagues and many were injured in the fight against militants at a time when the regular police force had abandoned their police stations and the area to the militants. The court is expected to decide the fate of the ex-servicemen on June 2. The court has asked the petitioners’ lawyer, Muhammad Anwar Khan, to present the law case to decide if the services the ex-servicemen could be regularised.