ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has held that the fundamental purpose of a pension is to provide old-age security and an economic refuge as a vested constitutional right, emphasising that it is neither a bounty, charity, or an act of grace by the employer, nor is it alms or a donation.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, announced the landmark judgment in a case relating to a pension dispute. The court dismissed the appeal of the Federation of Pakistan, which had been filed against the judgment passed by the Federal Service Tribunal on January 19, 2025.
“We do not find any illegality, irregularity or perversity in the impugned judgment passed by the learned Tribunal therefore the civil petition is dismissed,” says the 8-page judgment authored by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
The respondent, Seema Tauseef, served in the Development Fund project uninterruptedly since 1986 and was subsequently appointed on a contract basis against the permanent post of Woman Program Officer (WPO) on July 1, 1997. Her services were formally regularised on December 15, 2011, after about 24 years of continuous service, and she ultimately retired upon reaching superannuation on December 25, 2020.
Because her long-standing service spanning from 1986 to December 14, 2011, was excluded from her final pension benefits, she filed Service Appeal No. 515(R) CS/2023, which was subsequently allowed through the impugned judgment of the tribunal.
The apex court held that after retirement, the timely payment of pension is universally considered the main source of income for an individual’s livelihood. The court further held that contractual employment must have a reasonable limit and should only be utilised for temporary, time-bound, or urgent assignments—not continued indefinitely against permanent roles.
