ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has held that law is clear that if a person is denied a job or service benefit through no fault of their own, the court should restore them to the position they would have been in if the wrong had not happened.
A two-member FCC bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah announced the judgment in an appeal filed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police Service Commission against the judgment passed by the Peshawar High Court on April 1, 2022.
The court dismissed the appeal of KP Police Service Commission with the ruling that it did not find reason to interfere with the direction passed by the high court. “If the delay or denial was caused by the department’s error or illegal action, the department cannot benefit from its own mistake, and the employee should not continue to suffer because of it,” said a four-page judgment authored by Justice Arshad Hussain Shah.
The court noted that the issue in the petition was whether a person, who was wrongly kept out of service because of the department’s mistake, delay or inaction should be given an appointment from an earlier date. “It is well settled that where a candidate is denied his legal right to a post, through no fault on his part, the court must intervene to restore him, so far as the law permits, to the service position which he would have occupied had the wrongful exclusion not occurred,” added the judgment.
The court noted that the high court adopted a careful and restrained course by directing that the respondent’s appointment be treated from 6-10-2017 only on a notional basis for purposes of seniority, while denying back benefits and other monetary consequences.
As per the case, the Agency Education Officer, Mohmand Agency, advertised posts of Physical Education Teacher (PET) in 2016. Gohar Rehman, the respondent, applied, qualified on merit, and secured higher merit for Tehsil Safi, but was denied appointment because he possessed a duplicate domicile certificate issued after losing the original one.
The respondent filed a writ petition before the Peshawar High Court, which accepted his plea and ordered his appointment in 2020. However, he was placed junior to candidates appointed in 2017. He again approached the high court seeking seniority according to his original merit position. The court allowed the petition and directed that his appointment be treated as effective from 6-10-2017 for seniority purposes only, without any financial benefits.
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) had heard the appeal of the KP Police Service Commission on March 24, 2026. The court, after listening to the parties, dismissed the appeal of KP Police Service Commission. “In view of the above, we find no reason to interfere with the said direction. The petition is without merit. Leave to appeal is refused and the petition stands dismissed,” the court concluded.
