FCC says retaining employees on contract for years is economic exploitation

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) held that the continued retention of employees on a contract basis for years together constitutes a form of economic exploitation and administrative arbitrariness, which is violative of the Constitution and the law.

A two-judge bench of the FCC, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah, ruled that on an appeal of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (petitioner), filed through the Chief Secretary, against the Peshawar High Court judgment dated May 31, 2018.

The respondents were appointed as dispensers (BS-6) w.e.f. November 11, 2002 & March 6, 2007 respectively, on a contract basis in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Upon deletion of health facilities from the ADP 2010-11, the services of staff working in health facilities under the ADP Scheme, including the respondents, were terminated w.e.f. June 30, 2010. The respondents, having failed to obtain relief through their departmental appeals, invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 199 of the Constitution by filing a writ petition, directed the petitioners to reinstate the respondents in their services and issue their formal regularisation orders against their respective posts.

The FCC observed that the issue of the regularisation of contract employees is not merely a matter of service jurisprudence but is linked with the enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. Article 9 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life, has been expansively interpreted by the superior judiciary to include within its fold the right to livelihood and job security. The concept of ‘life’ under Article 9 is not to be construed narrowly but must be given a broad and purposive interpretation so as to ensure meaningful existence, which necessarily includes the assurance of stable employment where the nature of work is permanent.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026