Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 199, 2(b), 371-A(i)

Law: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Employees (Regularization of Services) Act, (XVI of 2009)

Section:

SUMMARY Held: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Small Industries Development Board Act, 1972- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regularization of Service Act, 2009- Pensionable service-- Clause 2(b) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regularization of Service Act, 2009 defines the term “employee” as an adhoc or contract employee appointed by the Government on adhoc or contract basis. Significantly, the statutory framework excludes employees appointed against project posts, work charge employees, and those paid from contingencies from its ambit. When Clause 2(b) is read in conjunction with the explicit stipulations contained in the petitioner’s appointment letter—his employment was contractual, co-terminus with the project, and non-pensionable—it becomes manifest that his service during the SGSC project does not constitute qualifying service for pensionary purposes. Ref: Muhammad Raqeeb v. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2023 SCMR 992) Civil Service Regulations, 2018 - Rule 371-A(i) of the Civil Service Regulations, 2018 (“Regulations, 2018”) stipulates that “Government servants borne on temporary establishments who have rendered more than five years of continuous temporary service shall count such service for the purpose of pension or gratuity, excluding broken periods of temporary service, if any, rendered previously.” In the present case, however, the petitioner rendered contractual service for a period of approximately three years only, which is less than the mandatory threshold of five years prescribed under the aforesaid Rule. Consequently, such period of service does not confer upon him any vested right to claim pensionary or gratuity benefits. Ref: M/o Finance through Secretary, etc. v. Syed Afroz Akhtar Rizvi & others (2021 SCMR 1546) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regularization of Service Act, 2009- It is also settled principle of service jurisprudence that pension is not a matter of grace or generosity but a statutory right regulated strictly by governing rules. Where the rules expressly exclude a category of service from pensionable consideration, no equitable considerations can override such statutory exclusion. The mere fact that the…