PHC restores services of 796 Prisons Department warders

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday declared the removal order of 796 warders of the Prisons Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government from service as void and restored the services of the newly-appointed officials.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Syed Afsar Shah cancelled the removal orders. It directed the provincial government to restore the services of the officials forthwith.
The verdict was announced after hearing arguments from both sides and receiving replies from the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, inspector general (IG) Prisons and superintendent of Central Prison Peshawar.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in its written reply said that it had cancelled the appointments of the employees as the government intended to make recruitment through National Testing Service (NTS) as a policy matter.
In the written comments, the Inspector General of Prisons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Superintendent Headquarters Prison, Peshawar and secretary Home and Tribal Affairs said the appointments were made after following due process and merit.
However, the officials stated that the appointment orders were cancelled, because the government wanted to make recruitment through the NTS as a policy matter.It was stated in the reply that the petitioners were at liberty to compete as and when the process is initiated through NTS, thus their fundamental rights had not been taken away.
During hearing of the case, Justice Syed Afsar Shah observed how the jail warders were terminated from job after due process and why action was not taken against the erring officials if any irregularities were committed in the appointments.
The two petitions were filed by around 340 of the sacked employees. The provincial government had cancelled the appointment of 796 Prisons Department employees for alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
Ijaz Khan Sabi, lawyer for the petitioners, said they were not issued any show-cause notice or opportunity of personal hearing and they had been dismissed unheard. He said the impugned order issued by the superintendent Headquarters (Prisons) on February 16 was unjust and illegal.