ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that laws are made for man, and man is not made for the laws, holding that a wrong order and action cannot be perpetuated and that it is the ultimate duty of the court to remedy injustice.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, announced the judgment in an appeal filed by the government through the Pakistan Railways secretary against a judgment passed by the Federal Service Tribunal (FST) Camp at Lahore in a Service Appeal on April 26, 2024.
The court dismissed the government’s appeal, holding that it did not find any illegality, irregularity or perversity in the tribunal judgment. The court noted that the respondent worked in the higher post of CC&M (BS-18) on an acting/ additional charge basis from March 2, 2012, to August 17, 2020, before his regular promotion. He sought antedated promotion and equal treatment, claiming others had received such benefit. The FST directed the department to pay him benefits for holding the higher post from March 2, 2012, and to consider his promotion from the date he completed five years of regular service in BS-17, the judgment said.
Citing a judgment delivered in the case of Secretary to the Government of Punjab, Communication and Works Department, Lahore v. Muhammad Khalid Usmani, the court noted that it had expressed concern that officiating, ad-hoc and temporary promotions are misused to keep civil servants under pressure and uncertainty. The court held that such practices should be discouraged to ensure transparency, certainty and good governance.
The court further held that statutory rules and regulations, while providing for disciplinary actions and punishments, also protect the service rights of employees. Failure to follow such laws and rules amounts to an inherent illegality and infringement of employees’ rights.
According to Article 3 of the Constitution, the court added, the State must ensure the elimination of all forms of exploitation and the gradual fulfilment of the fundamental principle: “From each according to his ability to each according to his work.”
“In the wake of the above discussion, we do not find any illegality, irregularity, or perversity in the impugned judgment passed by the learned Tribunal. Hence, this Civil Petition is dismissed,” the judgment concluded.
