The Supreme Court has held that the employees who were originally inducted in National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) from BPS-1 to BPS-7 will not be repatriated. A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, after hearing the arguments of the petitioners and the defence counsels had reserved the judgement on 5th October, 2018, which was announced on Friday.
The petitioners Zulfiqar Ahmed Lilla, Rizwan Ahmed Qazi and others were civil servants working in different government departments. Upon creation of National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP), their services were entrusted to it on deputation basis and were later permanently absorbed.
Then came the judgement of this court in the case of contempt proceedings against Chief Secretary, Sindh etc (2013 SCMR 1752) and in compliance thereof their absorption was nullified and they were repatriated to their parent departments. Being aggrieved by such decision, some of the petitioners filed criminal review petitions 131 & 133 of 2016, which were disposed of vide order dated 21.02.2017.
It was held in the judgement; "All those employees who are in BPS-1 to BPS-7 will not be repatriated to their parent departments, rest of the employees who are not in regular police and are not in uniform shall be repatriated to their parent departments, as if they were never absorbed in the Motorway Police."
Three criminal petitions were filed taking the plea that the respondent (IGP NH&MP, Islamabad) is not implementing the judgements of this court passed in criminal original petition 89/2011 and criminal review petition 131 & 133 of 2016 in their true perspective so contempt proceedings may be initiated against him.
The case of the repatriated employees was that the direction of Supreme Court passed in criminal review petition 131 & 133 of 2016 has been wrongly interpreted as they are regular employees of the police department; that the judgement passed in criminal original petition 89/2011 was only meant for civil servants in Sindh and that the matter with regard to their permanent absorption had attained finality and thus could not have been reopened.
The apex court in criminal review petition 131 & 133 of 2016 has specifically held "all those employees who are in BPS-1 to BPS-7 will not be repatriated to their parent departments". The judgement said hence only those employees who were originally inducted in NH&MP from BPS-1 to BPS-7 are not to be repatriated, the rest will have to be. The respondent department is directed to strictly follow this principle.
The court clarified that so far as the issue that judgement of this court passed in criminal original petition 89/2011 was only meant for civil servants in Sindh is concerned, suffice it to state that in the said judgement, this court has settled the fate of all employees who were sent on deputation, therefore, it is to be uniformly applied to the rest of the provinces as well.