The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has delivered a landmark ruling on the issue of seniority in public service, declaring that all government departments, autonomous bodies and public corporations must publish their seniority lists on their official websites.The written judgement was issued by Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi on Friday. In the ruling, the court stated that seniority lists of public employees could not be concealed and that all such records must be made publicly available online.

The judgement further directed all government departments, autonomous institutions and corporations to update their seniority lists every January. The court held that the seniority of employees recruited through the same advertisement and belonging to the same batch should be determined according to their position on the merit list rather than the date on which they joined service. Justice Rizvi observed that the principle of “first come, first served” was inconsistent with a fair system of public administration.

The court also ruled that any condition contained in an employment contract that conflicts with the law cannot deprive an employee of legally protected rights. The judgement emphasised that access to information regarding seniority lists is a constitutional and fundamental right of both citizens and public employees. The court ordered that copies of the decision be sent immediately to the chief secretaries of all four provinces for implementation.The court expressed serious concern over the failure of the Port Qasim Authority to issue a seniority list for seven years after the confirmation of employees.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)