MUHAMMAD YASEEN vs PROVINCE OF SINDH through Secretary Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh

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MUHAMMAD YASEEN VS PROVINCE OF SINDH through Secretary Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh at Karachi art. 10a---Civil service---appointment---Right of civil servant to be heard before declaring his appointment as illegal---Scope---Purported appointment letters did not mention that the petitioners were employed on contract basis, which fact was also verified from the appointment letters attached with the petitions and the advertisement inviting applications---admittedly the petitioners had joined service, but their appointment letters were not issued by the competent authority, therefore, their appointments were subsequently withdrawn---Petitioners were never associated in any inquiry for the purpose of verifying the appointment letters or the appointment process, rather an inquiry was conducted against the former District Education Officer (DEO) who was allegedly responsible for managing the illegal appointments; but even with regard to him, there was no mention if any punitive action was taken against him for being involved in making the fake appointments whereby he fleeced and defrauded the department and petitioners both---Before declaring the appointments illegal or taking any drastic action against the petitioners, a drastic action should have been taken against the responsible person who committed illegality, if any, at the departmental level---Beneficiaries of the appointments could not be blamed alone because primarily the authority who had issued appointment letters in the recruitment process was bound to be punished first rather than the petitioners who had commenced their duties in view of the appointment letters---Keeping in mind all the attending circumstances, the department was bound to issue notice to the petitioners to show cause as to why their services should not be terminated and, in response, the petitioners might have appeared with the defence that the appointments were not illegal but issued after due process---Petitioners should have been afforded an opportunity of hearing, which was a fundamental right enshrined under article 10a of the Constitution---Provincial Law Officer as well as the Deputy Secretary (Law) proposed that an inquiry committee may be constituted to consider/examine the appointment process of the present petitioners and to verify their credentials/antecedents to determine whether they were rightly appointed or appointed on the basis of fake appointment letters---Counsel for the petitioners agreed to such proposal---Petitions for leave to appeal were converted into appeals and allowed with relevant directions to examine the entire appointment process of the petitioners.

MUHAMMAD YASEEN vs PROVINCE OF SINDH through Secretary Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh at Karachi art — 2023 SCMR 1703 SUPREME-COURT

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