Every employment-related dispute: HC’s jurisdiction under Article 199 not available: FCC

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) ruled on Wednesday that a high court's constitutional jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution does not apply to every employment-related dispute. A two-judge bench, comprised of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, heard an appeal filed by Sukkur Electric Power Company's Chief Executive Officer against the Sindh High Court's September 17, 2025 verdict.

The higher court's decision was overturned, but affirmed that the constitutional petition was not maintainable.

The FCC determined that employees of the petitioner company, whose service conditions are not governed by statutory service rules, cannot maintain a constitutional/ writ petition regarding their promotion or the effect of a minor penalty of censure. The decision clarified that the binding effect of FCC and Supreme Court judgments does not grant a high court the authority to decide the merits of a dispute in proceedings where it previously found the writ petition to be non-maintainable.

The dispute concerned minor penalties, classified as censure, imposed upon the respondents during their service. The respondents argued that these penalties obstructed their advancement. They sought constitutional jurisdiction via the Sindh High Court, requesting a declaration that censure penalties, based on Supreme Court rulings, should not negatively impact their promotions.

During the trial, the petitioner company, SEPCO, objected that the constitutional petition was not maintainable, primarily due to the company's status and the absence of statutory service rules governing employee terms and conditions. The High Court agreed and dismissed the petition, but continued to assess the dispute on its merits. The FCC's ruling stated that the extraordinary jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 199 is not available as a matter of course for every employment-related dispute.

The court emphasized that the relationship between an employer and its employees is typically contractual, and matters concerning promotion, disciplinary proceedings, and other terms of service fall within contractual agreements or service policies. Consequently, disputes arising from non-statutory service rules cannot be transformed into constitutional jurisdiction proceedings for a High Court.