Court directs KPCTA BoD to decide contract employees case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) to decide on the extension of the contracts of the employees.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Fazal Subhan heard the review petition filed by Nadeem Ahmad and 63 other petitioners. The review petition was filed after their earlier writ petition was dismissed.

The court overturned its earlier decision of dismissal of the writ petition and sent the case to the KPCTA’s BoD.The petitioners’ lawyers informed the bench that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Act 2019 was enacted by the provincial assembly to promote, develop, manage, and market tourism and cultural heritage in the province. For this purpose, they pleaded, the KPCTA was established and the petitioners were shortlisted and interviewed by a selection committee for employment. Initially, they were appointed on a three-year contract, but their contracts were not extended after the completion of the term.

The lawyers argued the petitioners informed the BoD on August 23, 2024, but no decision was made. They said that the petitioners deserved to be regularised as a matter of their right. When their writ was dismissed by the two-member bench, the petitioners filed a review petition.

The petitioners counsel prayed the court that the current case also be sent to the board, as failure to do so would be unjust to the petitioners. The court then accepted the review petition, nullified its earlier decision of November 27, 2024, and directed the parties to place the matter before the KPCTA’s BoD in its next meeting for a decision.