Contractual employees’ case: Passport dept dilly-dallying in responding to IHC

ISLAMABAD: Despite passage of over two months, the Passport and Immigration Directorate has failed to respond to a notice issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a case related to non-regularisation of 450 contractual employees of the department.

Employees had moved the IHC on November 4 against the “discriminatory attitude” of the department which falls under the Ministry of Interior. About 150 employees have been hired by the department in 2007 yet they have not been regularised despite the decision of the cabinet committee and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Justice Mian Gul Hasan Orangzeb of the IHC in a writ petition had directed the Passport Department to submit its response before the court on November 4, 2017, but the department is using delaying tactics in responding to the notice.

“We are following the due process in submitting our response to the court,” says Assistant Director Legal at the Passport Department Ms Tauseef. She said the response has been sent to the Law Ministry for wetting and the same will be submitted before the court once it is ready.

However, the contractual employees told The News that the management is deliberately avoiding the court as some of the officials will be directly affected as a result of their regularisation.