YOUNUS PARWANI vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Finance Secretary S

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YOUNUS PARWANI VS FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Finance Secretary S.11(10)---Constitution of Pakistan, Art, 199---Promotion policy, challenge to---Constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court---Promotion policy matters of banks---High Court lacking necessary expertise in evaluation of promotion assessment---Setting promotion eligibility criteria fundamentally an administrative function---Promotion Policy, 2015 introduced by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was challenged---It was contended that the policy unlawfully allocated 20 marks for interviews for management cadre promotions, enabling favoritism and bypassing merit---A promotion list was announced based on this allegedly illegal policy---Further objections were raised against the President of NBP being allowed to promote 25 employees annually under discretionary powers later approved by the board of human resources---The petitioners claimed that 47 deserving officers were denied promotion despite better performance, while 26 officers were promoted based on favoritism---It was contended by means of the present Constitutional petition that the discretionary promotions violated the established promotion policies and infringed constitutional/service rights and on that basis nullification of the discretionary powers and promotion of the petitioners were sought---Held: Considering the bank's stated policy on promotions, employees did not have inherent or guaranteed right to promotion based solely on seniority---Promotion decisions which hinged on performance and integrity depended on multiple factors evaluated by the bank's authorized body---High Court lacked necessary expertise in such evaluations---Legal precedent in service matters established that promotion involved assessing both eligibility (meeting basic criteria) and fitness (a subjective evaluation) based on seniority, eligibility, fitness, promotion, and other employment terms rests solely with the competent authority, as defined by the relevant laws and rules---According to S. 11(10) of the Banks (Nationalization) Act, 1974, all employee selections, promotions, and transfers (excluding president), as well as decisions regarding their pay and benefits, were to be made by the president of the respondent bank---Such decisions must align with the evaluation criteria and personnel policies established by the board---In the present case, respondent bank had indeed formulated a promotion policy for its regular employees, covering advancements from clerical positions to officer grade and higher ranks, up to executive vice president, and this policy included specific criteria---High Court emphasized the competent authority's established legal right to formulate rules for efficient service and resolve inconsistencies within the service rules---Setting promotion eligibility criteria was the responsibility of the service rules committee and was fundamentally an administrative function within the respondent bank's exclusive policy-making authority---Therefore, High Court normally would not interfere in such promotion matters as bank employees lacked a guaranteed right to promotion or the rules defining their eligibility and fitness---Moreover, in banking cases, the High Court typically lacked jurisdiction to invalidate such policies via a writ petition, except when the policy contradicted public interest, which was not the situation in the present case---Constitutional petition being without merits, was dismissed, in circumstances.

YOUNUS PARWANI vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN through Finance Secretary S — 2025 PLC(CS) 976 KARACHI-HIGH-COURT-SINDH

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