Lawful benefits can’t be denied due to ‘administrative delays’
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Monday observed that an employee cannot be penalised or deprived of a benefit otherwise lawfully available to him on account of an event or administrative delay that was wholly beyond his control. “Therefore, respondent (Dr Munir Ahmad Malik) cannot be made to suffer merely because the Selection Board did not convene or accord its approval…
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has ruled that employees cannot be penalized or denied benefits due to administrative delays beyond their control. The court rejected an appeal from the Punjab government against a Lahore High Court (LHC) order issued on January 10, 2025, which ordered payment of a Rs150,000 monthly incentive allowance to Dr. Munir Ahmad Malik.
Dr. Malik had been denied the allowance after his appointment as the Punjab AIDS Control Programme (PACP) project director, with the Punjab government arguing that the allowance could not be granted retrospectively. The FCC upheld the LHC's decision, stating that the Selection Board's approval was solely the responsibility of the relevant departmental authorities, and any delay or omission on their part could not be used to disadvantage the employee.
The FCC also referenced its 2022 decision in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Service Commission case, which held that an employee cannot be made to suffer due to a departmental delay or omission, as doing so would result in manifest injustice. Therefore, the FCC dismissed the appeal, upholding the Rs150,000 monthly allowance for Dr. Malik.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
