SC judge warns against bringing the judiciary down

Author: By Syed Sabeeh

ISLAMABAD: Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has observed that the judiciary had been changed after 2014. He said that the judiciary was strictly following the law and constitution while a single step could drop the institution down.

Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan made these observations while heading a two-judge bench which on Friday took up a preliminary hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Steel Peoples Workers Union (CBA) through its chairman.

The petition filed under Article 184(3) and making the respondents including the federal government, the finance ministry, the Privatization Commission, Sui Southern Gas Company and Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) prayed to direct the government to pay the gross salaries of the employees of PSMC which had not been paid for the last six months as per the ECC decision dated 24-04-2014.

The petition further prayed before the court to direct the government and thePMSC to settle all their liabilities toward the provident and gratuity funds and replenish the same by depositing outstanding and current monthly contributions and repaying the outstanding loan and relevant mark up into the said funds.

During the course of the hearing, Ali Zafar, counsel for the CBA, informed the court that the government was destroying the steel mill as it had refused and failed to implement the decision of the ECC dated 24/04/2014 in which a final plan was decided to be implemented which will enable the PSMC to achieve 77 per cent of capacity utilisation. Ali Zafar further informed the bench that the government had not paid the salaries of employees for the last six months while the dues of retired employees had also not been paid leaving them destitute. They cannot make any demands regarding the shutting down of the PSMC.

He added the government had even stolen the money from the provident and gratuity funds, belonging to the employees of the PSMC. He said that the government and Sui Southern Gas Company had connived together to stop the gas supply to the PSMC and hence shut down the operations of the PSMC thereby directly damaging its plant and machinery worth billions of rupees. He further informed the court that the PSMC, as such, was not only a marvel and technological wonder, but could continue to act as a springboard for rapid national development and economic growth especially in the coming years in which investments like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project (CPEC) would result in a huge demand of steel.

The counsel for the CBA pleaded before the bench to direct the government for not terminating or laying off the PSMC employees or to deduct the allowance or to change the terms and conditions of their service in any manner under the garb of making the PSMC non-functional.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa, another member of the bench, observed that attempts were being made to do away with the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the PSMC by recruiting staff more than required. He further observed that the hiring was done in PIA more than the international standards.

Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan observed that the jurisdiction for the hearing under Article 184(3) had limits. However, following the preliminary hearing, the top court reserved the judgment over the maintainability of the petition seeking orders of the government pertaining to payment of salaries to employees and continuing the function of the PSMC.