Law: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2011

Section: R.2(1)(l)

Law: Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908)

Section: 51

Law: Constitution of Pakistan

Section: 185(3)

        (Against the judgment dated 28.02.2023 passed by the Peshawar High Court, Mingora Bench in W.P. No. 665-M of 2022). (a) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2011 R.2(1)(l)---Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Rules, 1975, R.2(iii)---Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908), S.51---Constitution of Pakistan, Art.185(3)---Employee of police department terminated from service on account of him being sent to civil prison under an execution of a civil liability---Department considering such civil imprisonment as conviction---Legality---Non-mentioning of the relevant law under which the employee being proceeded---Effect---Departmental proceedings would be unlawful on this score alone---Brief facts of the matter were that the respondent was appointed as a special police officer and was removed from service after being sent to civil prison for non-payment of a decretal amount arising from execution proceedings---He was reinstated by High Court for a fresh inquiry, after which the department again terminated him on the basis that his civil imprisonment amounted to misconduct---High Court set aside this second termination and reinstated him---The core legal question requiring determination before the Supreme Court was whether civil imprisonment under execution proceedings of a civil liability amounted to a conviction for purposes of service law, thereby justifying dismissal from service ?---Held: Respondent was issued the charge-sheet and statement of allegations while treating the period of three months when the respondent remained in the civil prison as period of conviction---The department while proceeding against the respondent failed to make mention of the law or the rules under which the departmental proceedings were initiated against the respondent---There was no mention of any law or the rules neither in the charge-sheet, statement of allegation, nor in show cause notice and in the order of the competent authority---This fact alone was sufficient to declare the entire proceedings initiated by the department against the respondent as nullity in the eyes of law for the reason that the respondent was not…