GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH SECRETARY HOME, PESHAWAR vs ATTIQ ULLAH KHAN

Fields are extracted from the reported citation and judgment text. Where a detail is not stated in the record, it is not shown.

GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH SECRETARY HOME, PESHAWAR VS ATTIQ ULLAH KHAN. 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 confronted with the relevant law and the rule according to which respondent was held liable to be proceeded and dismissed from service---From perusal of definition of the term "conviction" as defined in dictionaries it emerged that conviction was the result of a criminal trial in respect of a criminal offence and did not relate to civil proceedings---Therefore, even if a civil servant was sent to civil prison pursuant to execution proceedings in a civil suit it could not amount to his conviction---Moreover, the primary objective of arrest and detention under Section 51(c), C.P.C., was to recover the decretal amount and not to punish the judgment-debtor---Civil imprisonment / detention was not a punitive measure but a coercive and remedial tool to enforce orders and decrees of the court and could be purged upon compliance of the court order---Civil imprisonment as a consequence of execution of a civil liability did not amount to conviction, and, therefore, did not affect the terms and conditions of service of the civil servant---The impugned judgment passed by the High Court was unexceptionable---Present petition for leave to appeal was converted into appeal and dismissed.

GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH SECRETARY HOME, PESHAWAR vs ATTIQ ULLAH KHAN — 2026 PLC(CS) 537 SUPREME-COURT

Case information

Judgment text as reported

Other judgments reported in 2026 PLC