PESHAWAR: The Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that denying a retired employee or their family a pension after retirement is against constitutional justice.
The court accepted an appeal filed by the widow of a deceased local government employee from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ordered authorities to immediately release her pension and all other retirement benefits.
In its written judgment authored by Justice Arshad Hussain Shah, the court set aside an earlier decision of the Peshawar High Court, observing that the relevant record and legal provisions had not been properly examined.
The case involved Bashir Hussain, a former employee of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) Abbottabad. He was appointed as a firefighter in 2011 and later retired as a watchman in November 2020.
Bashir Hussain was short of the required qualifying service for pension by 10 months and 25 days. Although the Secretary of Local Government had approved a waiver for the shortfall, the Audit Department raised an objection despite the approval of the competent authority.
Bashir Hussain died in 2021, after which his widow approached the courts for family pension and other retirement benefits. The Federal Constitutional Court directed the authorities to pay her pension, gratuity, commutation and all outstanding dues without further delay.
The court made it clear that pension is not a concession, gift or charity, but a fundamental right earned by an employee through years of service. It observed that pension represents deferred compensation for an employee’s loyalty, hard work and contribution during their service.
The court further ruled that when pension rules allow more than one interpretation, authorities should adopt the interpretation that is more beneficial to the employee.
Read also: Federal Constitutional Court announces Winter vacations
