Islamabad: Supreme Court (SC) has announced the decision in respect of case related to seniority of KP employees. SC while nullifying Service Tribunal (ST) decision approved the appeal pleas of the employees. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar has authored 13-page decision.

Order has been given to restore seniority of the employees in its original form in this decision. SC maintained the regularization of the employees will be effective from March 7, 2018. Delay in gazette notification cannot influence the right of the employees. The punishment of administrative delay cannot be given to employees.

It has been said in the decision state cannot take advantage of its administrative mistake. The employees cannot be made scapegoat due to administrative incompetence. Delay in publication of regularization in gazette was merely administrative lapse.

The court maintained employees cannot stand deprived of their legal right due to administrative lapse.

Delay in gazette cannot make the regularization ineffective. The date of publication of notification cannot be made only criterion of seniority.

According to decision employees were regularized under KP Employees Regularization of Service Act 2018 and employees were regularized from March 7, 2018.

Notifications of regularization were issued on August, 28 and October 17, 2018 while regularization notifications were published in government gazette on August 21, 2024.

The respective employees were kept senior in seniority lists issued from 2019 to 2023.

However some employees raised objection on seniority list of 2024.

Service tribunal had declared seniority list 2024 null and void and termed delay in gazette important in the matter of seniority.