All federal govt employees to get 20pc special allowance

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Tuesday ordered payment of 20 percent special allowance to all the federal government employees and observed that the federal government could not discriminate against its employees.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Maqbool Baqir, after accepting an appeal filed by the employees of several attached departments of the federal government set aside the Islamabad High Court verdict. Shoaib Shaheen, counsel for the petitioners, submitted that the special allowance was only approved for the employees working in different ministries but denied to the employees of subordinate departments of the ministries.

He asked as to how the government could discriminate against its own employees. The court observed that the federal government could not discriminate against its employees and ruled that now all the federal government employees will get the special allowance. It is pertinent to mention that a division bench of the Islamabad High Court had accepted the federal government's intra-court appeal against the orders of a single-member bench for payment of 20 per cent special allowance to all federal government employees.

The then PPP government had approved a special allowance in March 2013 for the employees of the ministries and divisions of Pakistan Secretariat but it was not given to the employees of the attached departments.

To end discrimination, the employees of other departments, including the Federal government College Teachers Association, Pakistan PWD, departments of communication security, CDA union and Pakistan Council of Science and Technology, approached the IHC in April 2013 challenging that the allowance should also be paid to them.

Twenty-three identical petitions were filed by the employees of various federal government departments and a single bench of the Islamabad High Court, headed by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, had directed the federal government on June 18, 2013, to notify the 20 per cent special allowance for all employees.

However, instead of obeying the orders, the government filed an intra-court appeal against the decision of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.

After scores of hearings in over five years, a double bench of the IHC decided the mater in favour of the federation of Pakistan on June 13, 2018. Later on the employees moved the Supreme Court against the IHC verdict.