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Summary of the Order

This order concerns a petition filed by contract employees working as teaching and non-teaching staff in the Education Department of Pakistan Steel Mills (Respondent No. 2), seeking regularization of their employment with full benefits from their initial appointment dates. The petitioners rely on prior court orders, Cabinet Sub-Committee undertakings, and the Supreme Court’s judgments, particularly the 2012 Hafza Junejo case and subsequent decisions, which declared such contract employees as regular employees entitled to regularization.

The petitioners argued that repeated contract extensions and the creation of a separate entity (Respondent No. 3) were tactics to avoid granting them legal entitlements. They cited precedents including the Khair Nawaz Khan case and various Supreme Court rulings favoring regularization.

The respondents opposed the petition, claiming it lacked merit, was barred by undue delay, and was not maintainable due to Pakistan Steel Mills operating under Non-Statutory Regulations. They also highlighted the company’s severe financial losses (over Rs. 100 billion) as a reason against regularization.