ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that a parliamentary committee unlawfully encroached upon the powers of both the executive and the judiciary by issuing directions for the reinstatement and regularisation of hundreds of contractual and daily-wage workers.
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday by an IHC division bench comprising Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas, which dismissed multiple intra-court appeals and upheld an earlier single-bench verdict.
The single bench had declared that directives issued by a Special Committee of the National Assembly for the reinstatement and regularisation of dismissed employees carried no legal force and were void.
In its detailed judgment, the division bench observed that while the committee was constitutionally empowered to examine matters and submit recommendations to the National Assembly, it exceeded its mandate by issuing binding directions to executive authorities.
The court held that the committee’s instructions relating to reinstatement, regularisation, seniority, pay fixation and the initiation of coercive measures amounted to an unlawful assumption of executive and judicial functions.
“The recommendations of the Special Committee, insofar as they purported to bind the executive or override statutory provisions and judicial pronouncements, do not enjoy protection under Article 69(1) of the Constitution and were rightly declared void,” the bench ruled.
The court emphasized that parliamentary committees may make recommendations but cannot issue enforceable directives or interfere with matters governed by law or settled by the courts.
