IHC mechanism for speedy justice to govt employees

ISLAMABAD: In a landmark judgment for the provision of system for inexpensive and expeditious justice in service matters to the government employees, the Islamabad High Court has got an arbitrator appointed in the CDA and directed the Establishment Division to follow the suit in other government organisations.
“The helplessness of the employees and denial of access to justice becomes a form of forced labour, besides compromising the inviolability of dignity of the employee,” the IHC order issued by Justice Athar Minallah said, adding, “An employee without a remedy in the 21st century is obviously a modern slave, as he/she is forced to live with the injustice of being deprived of a choice on account of lack of resources, unequal bargaining power qua the employer and the compulsion to provide for the livelihood of the family.”
He added, “Such a shackled employee is virtually forced to accept this fate. This is a form of exploitation, which the State is under a constitutional command to eliminate pursuant to Article 3 of the Constitution. It also assumes a form of forced labour and slavery forbidden under Article 11 of the Constitution. Such treatment of an employee is a clear violation of the responsibilities and duties imposed on the State, each of its organ and authority, and of each person performing functions on behalf of an organ or authority of the State.”
During the hearing of the case in which numerous CDA employees had approached the IHC in relation to their service matters, the IHC had ordered the Chairman CDA to evolve a system for dispute resolution for its employees. Pursuant to the IHC directions, the CDA Chairman informed the court about its decision to appoint Justice (Retd) Maulvi Anwarul Haq, retired Judge of the High Court and former Attorney General of Pakistan, as a forum for deciding the grievances of the employees relating to their terms and conditions of service.
Justice Minallah appreciated the CDA decision, maintaining that if the management had provided an effective, independent and impartial dispute resolution mechanism earlier, there would have been no need for such a large number of its employees to have approached this Court by invoking the jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution.
The IHC also directed the Federal Government through the Establishment Division to make the CDA like arrangements in other government entitles. It directed the government to take necessary steps for ensuring ‘inexpensive and expeditious justice’ to the employees who fall in the categories amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 199 of the Constitution by proposing to the Parliament legislative enactment for establishing an appropriate appellate forum. “The Federal Government shall comply with this direction preferably within 60 days,” the order said. The order noted that most employees, particularly in the lower grades, with their meager salaries, find it virtually impossible to approach the High Court and as a result retire without a remedy, thereby suffering grave miscarriages of justice. Those who are fortunate to bear the high cost of litigation and are able to overcome the limitations and trappings of Article 199, are faced with enduring a long wait while the courts struggle to find time to properly hear and decide their petitions, which rank low on the priority list.
The judgment added, “A favorable verdict is also of no avail, as the organizations invariably drag the employees to a higher judicial forum. Even the fortunate employees who are able to approach a High Court, ultimately become victims of miscarriages of justice, finding it difficult to outweigh the strength of the employers in pursuing litigation.”
The judgment noted that the law relating to the right of access to justice is unequivocally well settled. It is an inviolable right inextricably linked, or in other words an integral part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution, and after the eighteenth amendment Article 10-A as well, guaranteeing a fair trial and due process.