PHC seeks reply from KP govt over failure to upgrade prisons’ employees

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday sought reply from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in a writ petition filed by the prisons employees across the province against the provincial government for ignoring them in upgradation of their scales for the last five years.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Musarrat Hilali issued the notice through chief secretary, secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department and secretary Finance Department. They were directed to submit a reply within 14 days and explain as to why the prisons employees were ignored in upgradation of scale.

All the prisons employees (warders and assistant superintendents) from scale 1 to 16 filed the writ petition through their lawyer Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah. The counsel for the petitioners submitted before the bench that the petitioners were government servants employed in the Prison Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He submitted that the provincial government had on June 30, 2015 issued a notification whereby all the provincial government employees from BPS 1 to 5 were upgraded by two pay scales and those in BPS 6 to 15 were upgraded by one pay scale.

The lawyer argued that petitioners raised the issue of upgradation with the officials concerned, who forwarded their case to the Finance Department.

He said the Finance Department sent a letter to the officials concerned on October 27, 2015 that said that the prisons employees were not entitled to the upgradation as they were already getting Prison Allowance equal to one-month initial basic and Ration Allowance of Rs1,000 per month.

He pointed out that secretary finance’s clarification was absolutely illegal and discriminatory. The counsel pointed out that as per the notification issued on July 26, 2012, the petitioners were getting much lower than 40 percent the Prison Allowance or Ration Allowance of their normal pay.

He said that in view of the provincial government notification about up-gradation of the scale of all the provincial employees, the petitioners were fully entitled for up-gradation in their respective pay grades and assumption and presumption of respondents in disallowing the same to the petitioners was not only uncalled, but misplaced and against the law.

 The lawyer argued that the petitioners were being discriminated against in absolute disregard of Articles 3, 4, 5, 25, 37 and 38 of the Constitution. The petitioners also made additional chief secretary, Home and Tribal Affairs Department, special secretary Home and inspector general of Prisons as parties to the petition.