IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN

(Appellate Jurisdiction)

Present:
Mr. Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik
Mr. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah
Mr. Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan

C.P.43-L/2021 to C.P.58-L/2021
(Against the order of Punjab Service Tribunal, Lahore
dated 26.10.2020, passed in Appeal Nos.321 to 336 of 2020)

Deputy Director Food Faisalabad Division, Faisalabad, etc.

(In all cases)

...….Petitioner(s)

Versus

Muhammad Tauqir Shah (In CP 43-L/2021)

Waqar Ahmad (In CP 44-L/2021)
Muhammad Shahzad Hashmi (In CP 45-L/2021)
Aqeel Abbas Khan (In CP 46-L/2021)
Muhammad Abu Bakkar Siddique (In CP 47-L/2021)
Asad Ahmad (In CP 48-L/2021)
Shakeel Ahmad Khan (In CP 49-L/2021)
Muhammad Imran (In CP 50-L/2021)
Muhammad Irfan (In CP 51-L/2021)
Tashif Javaid (In CP 52-L/2021)
Muhammad Usman Haider (In CP 53-L/2021)
Muhammad Bilal (In CP 54-L/2021)
Aftab Ahmad Saghar (In CP 55-L/2021)
Nakash Sabir (In CP 56-L/2021)
Zia Akbar (In CP 57-L/2021)
Saif Ullah (In CP 58-L/2021)
…….Respondent(s)

For the petitioner(s): Rana Shamshad Khan, Addl. A.G.

(In all cases)

For the respondent(s): Hafiz Tariq Nasim, ASC.

(In all cases)

Date of hearing: 10.03.2021

ORDER

Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, J.- The services of the

respondents were admittedly regularized under The Punjab
Regularization of Service Act, 2018 ("Act"), therefore, the sole
question before us is the determination of the date of regularization
C.P.43-L of 2021, etc. 2

i.e., whether it is from the date of regularization of the service of

the employee or whether from the date of initial appointment of the
employee on contract basis. The Punjab Service Tribunal through
impugned consolidated order dated 26.10.2020 found that the
regularization of the respondents shall be from the date of their
initial appointment under the contract, but the impugned order
has failed to discuss the provisions of the Act.

2. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and

have gone through the provisions of the aforesaid Act. The Act
provides for appointment on regular basis of employees serving on
contract.1 The Act is applicable to persons employed in a
department, who have completed three years continuous service
before or after commencement of the Act.2 “Regularization” under
the Act means the appointment of an eligible contract employee on
regular basis, with immediate effect, in accordance with the Act.3
The Act further provides that the contract employees who have
continuously been serving as such for a period not less than three
years shall be eligible to be considered for appointment on regular
basis if; (a) a regular vacancy allocated for initial recruitment is
available for regularization; (b) he is qualified for the post; (c) he
has not been appointed on a special pay package; (d) his
performance during the period of contract has remained
satisfactory; and (e) he does not opt to continue as contract
employee.4 The procedure for regularization provided under the Act
is that the contract employee appointed on the recommendations
of the Punjab Public Service Commission (“Commission”) shall be
submitted to the appointing authority for regularization without
reference to the Commission or the Scrutiny Committee as
constituted under Section 5 of the Act. However, if the post in
question falls within the purview of the Commission and the
contract employee is appointed otherwise than on the
recommendations of the Commission, the case shall be referred to

1
Preamble to the Act.
2
Section 1 (3) of the Act substituted by the Punjab Regularization of Service
(Amendment) Act, 2019 (XXIII of 2019). It earlier applied to persons employed
on contract in a department immediately before the commencement of the Act.
3
Section 2 (f) of the Act.
4
Section 3 (2) of the Act.
C.P.43-L of 2021, etc. 3

the Commission for recommendations5 and if the post is outside

the purview of the Commission, the case of a contract employee
shall be placed before the Scrutiny Committee constituted under
the Act for recommendations. The appointments made under
Section 4 of the Act shall be with immediate effect.6 The service
rendered by a contract employee shall not be counted for
pensionary benefits or for any other purpose whatsoever.7 Contract
employee, who is not recommended for regularization by the
Commission or, as the case may be, the Scrutiny Committee, shall
be terminated forthwith.8 A contract employee, who is regularized,
shall be placed at the bottom of the seniority list of the respective
cadre and shall rank junior to the other civil servants.9 A contract
employee, regularized under the Act, shall cease to be governed by
the Contract Appointment Policy 2004 and the terms and
conditions of the contract and shall be regulated under the Punjab
Civil Servants Act, 1974 and the rules framed thereunder.10

3. The scheme of the Act clearly shows that the

regularization of a contract is with immediate effect i.e., from the
date of regularization. Learned counsel for the respondents has
placed reliance on certain orders of this court in the matter of
regularization.11 We have perused the said orders and noticed that
they did not discuss the Act or its provisions and the regularization
in the said orders was on the basis of the Policy announced by the
Government, therefore, they are not relevant for our purposes. The
provisions of the Act are unambiguous and clearly mention that
regularization shall be with immediate effect i.e., from the date of
regularization.

5
Section 4 (2) of the Act.
6
Section 6 (1) (a) and Section 6 (1) (b) of the Act.
7
Section 6 (2) of the Act.
8
Section 7 of the Act.
9
Section 8(1) of the Act.
10
Section 11 of the Act.
11
Order dated 29.07.2019 passed in Civil Petitions No.1657-L to 1664-L of 2019.
Order dated 08.06.2016 passed in Civil Petition No.2346-L of 2015
Order dated 31.10.2016 passed in CMA No.2243-L of 2016 in CRP No. Nil of
2016 in Civil Petition No.2346-L of 2015, as well as order dated 06.03.2019
passed in Appeal No.4364/2018.
C.P.43-L of 2021, etc. 4

4. In this view of the matter, the impugned consolidated

order is set aside. The regularization of the respondents shall be
considered from the date of their regularization. Resultantly, these
petitions are converted into appeals and allowed in the above
terms.

Judge

Judge
Lahore,
10th March, 2021.
Approved for reporting
Iqbal Judge