Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 199

Law: Companies Act, 2017

Section:

Tagline A writ of mandamus seeking reinstatement or continuation of employment in a government-controlled public limited company is not maintainable under Article 199 of the Constitution in the absence of statutory service rules, as such employment is governed by the non-statutory principle of Master and Servant.  Summary In this consolidated order resolving ICAs 23/2022 and 24/2022, the High Court affirmed the dismissal of two writ petitions filed by employees of Pak Datacom Limited. The appellants sought a writ of mandamus to continue their employment, arguing that the company is owned and controlled by the Federal Government (through Telecom Foundation's shareholding and government-appointed directors) and thus qualifies as a Public Sector Company. The Court held that even if government ownership and control are assumed, a petition for mandamus regarding employment is not maintainable unless the employment is governed by statutory rules. The appellants' reliance on the company’s Service Manual was rejected because the manual does not owe its genesis to any statutory powers or sub-delegated legislation, distinguishing it from precedents where rules were framed under parent statutes. Furthermore, the appellants' claim to permanent status based on an incidental vehicle policy document was found untenable, as official board minutes explicitly confirmed their employment was on a contract basis. Consequently, the appeals were dismissed in limine due to the non-maintainability of a writ in the presence of non-statutory rules. ORDER; SARDAR   EJAZ    ISHAQ    KHAN,    J:    By this consolidated order, we dispose of ICAs 23/2022 and 24/2022 as they raise common questions of law and arise out of identical orders, whereby the two writ petitions were dismissed for the reason that the primary prayer therein for mandamus for the appellants to continue in their employment with respondent no. 1 company, Pak Datacom Limited, could not be granted because of the absence of any statutory rules governing the employment with Pak Datacom. The learned counsel for the appellants laid…