Muhammad Jan & others V. Government of Balochistan through Chief Secretary and another,
PLD 2018 Balochistan 49 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved employees of the Zakat and Ushr Department, Government of Balochistan, who had worked on contract for around 10 to 12 years without their jobs being made permanent. They approached the Balochistan High Court, arguing that although they were hired as contract staff to audit Zakat funds, they had continued serving for over a decade with satisfactory performance, and their positions were effectively permanent since the work was still needed. They also pointed out that six new posts of Junior Auditor had actually been created to accommodate and regularize them, but instead of doing so, the department advertised these posts for fresh, open recruitment, which would force the long serving employees to compete again despite many of them now being overage and unable to seek other jobs.
The government argued the employees had accepted contract terms and had no automatic right to permanent status.
The High Court ruled in favor of the petitioners. It held that since their appointments followed proper selection procedures, their work was needed by the department, no one questioned their qualifications or performance, and posts were specifically created for them, re-advertising those same posts made no sense and unfairly punished experienced workers. The court allowed the petition, effectively protecting their right to continue in these regularized posts.
This case matters because it reinforces that long-serving, competent contract employees performing necessary government functions cannot be arbitrarily displaced through repeated re-advertisement, especially when posts were created specifically for their regularization.
یہ مقدمہ زکوٰۃ و عشر ڈیپارٹمنٹ، حکومتِ بلوچستان کے ان ملازمین سے متعلق تھا جو تقریباً دس سے بارہ سال تک کنٹریکٹ کی بنیاد پر کام کرتے رہے مگر ان کی ملازمتوں کو مستقل نہیں کیا گیا۔ انہوں نے بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ سے رجوع کیا اور موقف اختیار کیا کہ اگرچہ انہیں زکوٰۃ فنڈز کے آڈٹ کے لیے کنٹریکٹ ملازمین کے طور پر رکھا گیا تھا، لیکن وہ ایک دہائی سے زائد عرصے سے تسلی بخش کارکردگی کے ساتھ خدمات سرانجام دے رہے تھے، اور چونکہ ان کے کام کی ضرورت بدستور موجود تھی اس لیے ان کی آسامیاں عملاً مستقل نوعیت اختیار کر چکی تھیں۔ انہوں نے یہ بھی نشاندہی کی کہ جونیئر آڈیٹر کی چھ نئی آسامیاں دراصل انہی کو ایڈجسٹ اور ریگولرائز کرنے کے لیے تخلیق کی گئی تھیں، مگر ڈیپارٹمنٹ نے انہیں مستقل کرنے کے بجائے ان آسامیوں کو نئی، اوپن بھرتی کے لیے مشتہر کر دیا، جس سے طویل عرصے سے خدمات انجام دینے والے ملازمین کو