PHC restores services of 52 project employees

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday restored the services of 52 employees of the World Bank-funded Rural Livelihood and Community Infrastructure Project (RLCIP) till life of the project.

A division bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rasheed Khan and Qalandar Ali Khan announced the decision in a writ petition filed by the employees. They had challenged a notification issued for relieving them of their services from December 31, 2016.

Earlier, the court had suspended operation of the notification and stopped the Fata Secretariat from relieving the 52 employees of the project. Advocate Mohammad Asif Yousafzai appeared for the petitioners. He contended that the project was funded by Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) through World Bank for the betterment of certain areas in the Fata. He added the petitioners had been employees of the project and were working against posts in different areas.

The advocate said the contracts of the employees were extended from time-to-time after obtaining no-objection letter (NOL) from the World Bank. He stated that the last extension was given up to Dec 31, 2016, adding further extension was also approved till March 31, this year, whereas the project would continue by 2018.

The counsel argued that under the agreement, the quarters concerned had to give 30 days prior notice for terminating the contracts. In the instant case, he added, none of the petitioners were given any prior notice.The lawyer contended that the impugned notification was against the law, facts and norms of justice, therefore not tenable.