Supreme Court Restores Controller General of Accounts Recruitment Rules 2014 and Sets Aside Federal Service Tribunal Order; Rules Service Tribunals Cannot Quash Policy Guidelines
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued a new order to reinstate the Recruitment Rules 2014 for Controller General of Accounts (CGA) of the government which was earlier quashed by the Federal Service Tribunal.
As per the details, the top court set aside the decision of the Federal Service Tribunal dated 17th October 2022 which earlier quashed the recruitment rules dated 15th July 2014.
Here are some of the important points that were highlighted in the Supreme Court’s detailed judgement.
Restriction of Tribunal Jurisdiction: Justice Ayesha A. Malik, in a written judgment, held that the service tribunal has no legal authority to strike down policy issues and recruitment regulations. The bench said that, tribunals can’t trespass upon their jurisdiction and replace the executive administration to redraft the rules.
Promotion Not an Inherent Right: The court commented that the concerned employee was promoted from Junior Auditor to Senior Auditor on 1st January, 2021 in accordance with the same rules under challenge in 2014. The bench further explained that promotion from Junior Auditor to Assistant Accounts Officer cannot be said to be a fundamental right, as no right to promotion is granted by the Constitution and the Government has the discretion of changing the structure of services and the recruitment procedure as per administrative needs.
Previously, the rules had been rejected by the Service Tribunal because they were not approved by the Establishment Division. The Supreme Court, however, noted that the same rules were followed for amendments in 2017, 2019, and 2021 by the Establishment Division.