Law: Civil Servants Act, 1973

Section: 2

Law: Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules, 1973

Section: 8

Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 3, 4, 25

Civil Servants Act, 1973 (LXXI of 1973)-- ----S. 2--Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion & Transfer) Rules, 1973, R. 8-B--Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 3, 4, 25--Service matter--Promotion--Acting Charge--Ad-hoc Appointment--Stoppage Arrangement--Legitimate Expectation--Good Governance--Discrimination--Equal Treatment--Long Acting Charge--Regular Promotion--Administrative Fairness--Misuse of Authority--Ad-hoc/acting charge appointment was a stopgap arrangement made otherwise than the prescribed method of recruitment and did not confer any right to regular promotion--Under Rule 8-B, acting charge could only be given where no suitable officer was available and was subject to conditions--Stopgap arrangement was purely temporary and interim, meant to maintain continuity of official business and could not be treated as permanent or regular appointment nor did it create any vested right in higher grade--Prolonged continuation on ad-hoc/acting charge basis for an unlimited period was illegal and defeated the very purpose of stoppage arrangement and service laws--Failure to following statutory rules and denial of rightful benefits amounted to injustice and violation of employees’ right, and Courts were required to ensure fairness under constitutional principles--Administrative authorities often misused powers through procedural irregularities; such actions were required to be checked to ensure lawful exercise of authority--Doctrine of legitimate expectation required administrative authorities to act fairly, justly, and in accordance with law--Petition dismissed.                                            [Pp. 249, 250, 251 & 253] A, B, C, D, E & F Mrs. Shireen Imran, ASC for Petitioners. N.R for Respondent. Date of hearing: 28.1.2026. Judgment Muhammad Ali Mazhar, J.--This Civil Petition for leave to appeal is directed against the Judgment dated 26.04.2024 passed by the learned Federal Service Tribunal, Camp at Lahore (FST) in Service Appeal…