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All Pakistan Newspaper Society Versus Federation of Pakistan

PLJ 2012 SC 316 · Sindh High Court

This case concerns a challenge by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society against the Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1973, which governs wages and working conditions for both working journalists and other newspaper employees. The petitioners argued the law was unconstitutional on several grounds: that treating working journalists and non-journalist newspaper staff under one law violated equal treatment guarantees under Article 25, that singling out the newspaper industry (as opposed to electronic media) was discriminatory, and that the law's Wage Board, which fixes wages, violated due process under Article 10-A since no right of appeal existed against its decisions.

The Supreme Court rejected these challenges. It held that courts should generally presume laws are constitutional unless clearly proven otherwise, and that classifying newspaper employees together was reasonable since journalists and other staff work collaboratively toward common goals, justifying similar treatment. The Court also found newspapers sufficiently distinct from other media to justify separate regulation. On the appeal issue, the Court explained that the Wage Board performs a legislative/executive function (setting general wage rules), not a judicial one resolving disputes between parties, so the absence of a right of appeal doesn't violate due process. However, Board decisions could still be challenged in court if shown to be arbitrary or perverse.

This judgment matters because it upholds protections for journalists' fair wages while clarifying when due process requires a right of appeal, distinguishing between law-making bodies and courts deciding individual disputes.

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