IHC orders payment of 4-year wages to daily-wage worker

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has delivered a landmark ruling, allowing an intra-court appeal and ordering the immediate release of four years of unpaid salaries to a daily-wage employee who served under the office of the Advocate General, Islamabad.

The Division Bench, comprising Justices Muhammad Azam Khan and Muhammad Asif, allowed intra court appeal No146/2022 filed by Nusrat Nawaz, a driver/Naib Qasid, against the dismissal of his original writ petition.

Nusrat Nawaz was initially employed as a driver on daily wages by the office of the executive engineer, Local Government and Rural Development Department, ICT, in February 2013. He was later transferred to the office of the Advocate General, Islamabad, in June 2015. His contractual services were terminated by his parent department on June 30, 2016, due to a non-availability of funds. However, the Advocate General, Islamabad, instructed him to continue his services, which he did — working in various capacities from July 1, 2016, to January 31, 2020, without receiving any pay.

The Advocate General’s office periodically acknowledged his services and made multiple recommendations to higher authorities for the release of his outstanding salary and for his regular appointment.

The court rejected the respondents’ argument that the appellant’s service after termination were voluntary and without authorisation. The Division Bench ruled that Nusrat Nawaz is entitled to receive his unpaid salaries for the period from July 7, 2016, to January 31, 2020. Furthermore, the court ordered, the arrears shall be calculated from the date they became due and paid along with interest at the prevailing bank rate. The chief commissioner and the office of the Advocate General must make settlements/modalities for the payment from the allocated funds within a period of one month from the intimation of the order to the court. The appeal was allowed in the above terms.

The court’s judgment emphasized that the denial of salary for work performed was not just an administrative or financial irregularity, but a “constitutional wrong and an offence against the social order envisioned by Islam”. The bench held that retaining the services of an employee without remuneration for years, particularly under the supervision of a constitutional office, was deeply regrettable and amounted to a “constitutional failure”.

The judgment explicitly stated that the denial of salary contravenes the constitutional duty to promote social and economic justice. It was deemed to be an act of forced labour, which is expressly prohibited under Article 11(3) of the Constitution. The court extensively relied on Islamic principles of justice (‘Adl) and the rights of workers. Citing the Holy Quran and authentic narrations (Hadith), the judgment underscored the moral and religious duty to “Pay the labourer his wages before his sweat dries”. It further stated that delayed or denied wages are a violation of Shariah.