Undo regularisation of grade 16 and above contractual employees, SHC tells govt

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday dismissed petitions with regard to regularisation of provincial government employees appointed on a contractual basis from grade 16 and above in different government departments and ordered the Sindh government to reverse the purported regularisation of all such contractual employees/beneficiaries forthwith.

The high court also directed the Sindh chief secretary to submit a compliance report along with the list of all such contractual employees who had been regularised in grade 16 and above under the Section 3 of the Sindh (regularization of ad hoc and contract employees) Act 2013.

The petitioners, Anjum Badar and others, had requested regularisation of their temporary contractual appointments in grade 17 under the 2013 law.

A counsel for the petitioners submitted that there was no cavil to the legal position that recruitment to the post of grade 16 and above were to be made through the Sindh Public Service Commission and to regulate the terms and conditions of service of a civil servant, special laws and rules were framed in the field.

The counsel submitted that cases of the petitioner squarely fell within the ambit of the Act and their services were to be regularised under the Act which specially provided for regularisation of employees who were appointed either on a contract or ad hoc basis and were holding such posts before the commencement of the law.

It was argued that the petitioners had served considerable time in the service and if they were not regularised at this stage after spending prime period of their professional life, it would be prejudicial to them as they would not be able to seek fresh employment at any other place.

The Sindh advocate general, however, argued that employees appointed on a contractual basis were not civil servants and they could not be regularised in grade 16 and above under the law. He said that contractual appointments violated the rule of seniority which had been strongly maintained by the Supreme Court in various judgments.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar after hearing the arguments of the case observed that only such law was valid and effective which was made in accordance with the existing law, which did not violate the law and would not have the effect of frustrating the law.

The high court observed that a piece of legislation which was against the command of the Constitution and or the law laid down or a direction given by the Supreme Court, such as the Section 3 of the Act to the extent of regularisation/appointment in grade 16 and above without the mandatory competitive process of selection by the commission, was in violation of the constitution and could not be applied or enforced.

The high court observed that all such contractual employees in grade 16 and above who had been regularised under the law without going through the mandatory competitive process did not have a sound argument and the beneficiaries could not take the plea of past and closed transection as such a plea would apply only in cases where rights were created under a valid law.