Supreme Court asks govt to lay off all PSM employees

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday asked the federal government to submit its response regarding the matters related to the functioning of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM). A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, heard the case.

During the course of proceedings, the chief justice said that the mills had been closed since 2015 and the employees were still receiving their salaries. He said the government was paying billions annually. He ordered the Secretary of Ministry of Industries to look into the matter immediately. He asked the government to lay off all employees, and appoint new people if it wanted to keep the PSM running.

Pakistan Steel Mills was causing a lot of problems, he added. He said that it seemed the entire national budget had been spent on it. Later, hearing of the case was adjourned till date in office.