The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that employees of Cantonment Boards are not civil servants, and therefore their service-related disputes cannot be heard by the Federal Service Tribunal (FST).
The ruling came in a nine-page judgment authored by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, which set aside an earlier order issued by the Federal Service Tribunal regarding a service dispute involving a Cantonment Board employee.
The court emphasized that determining jurisdiction is the primary responsibility of any court before proceeding with a case. If a matter falls outside a court’s jurisdiction, the parties must be directed to the appropriate legal forum rather than allowing a full trial to continue.
The judgment explained that the legal term “coram non judice” refers to an action taken by a court that lacks jurisdiction over the matter.
Background of the Case
According to the case details, the respondent employee was issued a charge sheet on December 31, 2015, accusing him of misconduct, including allegedly subletting government accommodation. An inquiry committee was formed to investigate the allegations.
After the final charge sheet was served, the employee was dismissed from service through a major penalty imposed on August 26, 2018.
Before the dismissal, the employee had filed a departmental appeal on September 15, 2016, which remained pending. As a result, he approached the Federal Service Tribunal. The tribunal initially directed the department to decide the pending appeal.
When the department rejected the appeal in February 2019, the employee again approached the FST, which set aside the original orders and instructed the authorities to conduct a fresh inquiry.
Supreme Court’s Key Findings
A division bench headed by Yahya Afridi examined two key questions:
- Whether Cantonment Board employees qualify as civil servants.
- Whether they can file service appeals before the Federal Service Tribunal under the Service Tribunals Act 1973 and Article 212 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
The court ruled that every civil servant is in the service of Pakistan, but not every person serving Pakistan is considered a civil servant.
It also held that Parliament cannot expand the constitutional jurisdiction of the Federal Service Tribunal through simple statutory amendments.
High Court Is the Correct Forum
The court further observed that after the discontinuation of Section 2A of the Service Tribunals Act, employees of Cantonment Boards cannot file service appeals before the FST.
Instead, they must seek legal remedy through the relevant high court under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
