Administrative delays aren’t employees’ fault, SC rules

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the government has an executive responsibility to adhere to rules and regulations, as employees cannot be made victims or scapegoats due to administrative delays. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, leading a two-judge bench, stated that employees cannot sit on the fence due to such delays, inefficiencies, or oversights.

The court set aside a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Service Tribunal decision denying seniority to regularized employees because of a belated official gazette notification. The controversy arose from the appointment of petitioners against project posts through a June 30, 2016, notification. Their services were regularized through August 2018, but the notifications were only published in the Official Gazette on August 21, 2024, more than six years later.

This delay led some employees to file departmental representations challenging their seniority in the final 2024 list. The tribunal ruled that since the regularization notifications were only published in 2024, the employees were not "regular civil servants" before that date and were thus not entitled to seniority. The Supreme Court considered whether employees should become victims due to administrative lapses or delays, despite being scribbled down as the effective date of the 2018 Act.

The court noted that the petitioners were sitting work-shy, inactive, or at leisure without performing duties or receiving remuneration during the interregnum. They argued that there was no justification for respondents appointed after the petitioners to claim seniority over them.