ISLAMABAD (Azmatullah): The Federal Constitutional Court has issued an important written decision regarding the seniority and merit of government employees.
The decision issued by Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi has clarified that no government department, autonomous body or corporation will be able to hide the seniority lists of its employees, but it will be mandatory to update all the lists in January every year and put them on the websites.
The court declared that access to information is a fundamental constitutional right of every citizen and employee, and transparency in it is indispensable for a fair system of public administration.
The most important thing in this decision is that the seniority of employees recruited in the same advertisement and in the same batch will not be determined on the principle of “first come, first served” but according to the position in the merit list.
The court has termed the arbitrary factor of determining seniority based on “date of joining” as a violation of equal rights given in the Constitution.
The decision clarified that the department cannot arbitrarily issue a joining letter after the recommendations of the selection committee, and coming earlier or later within the 7 days given for joining will not make any difference to the merit position.
The Federal Constitutional Court, while accepting the appeal of Pilot Captain Muhammad Ali Khan, declared the decision of the Sindh High Court illegal and nullified the controversial seniority list of the Port Qasim Authority.
The court expressed serious concern over the authority’s failure to issue the list after 7 years of permanent status and said that the department cannot take advantage of the employee’s unemployment and compulsion and insert any illegal condition in the employment contract that would abolish his fundamental rights.
The court has ordered that all government and semi-government institutions will be obliged to revise the seniority lists immediately after new recruitment, promotion or permanent status. A copy of this decision has also been directed to be sent to the Chief Secretaries of all four provinces for immediate implementation so that the rights of employees can be ensured throughout the country and arbitrariness by departments can be eliminated.
