A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, on Saturday issued notices to the respondents on the petition filed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), challenging the Federal Services Tribunal’s decision on wedlock policy, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
During the hearing, a judge asked whether the policy gave a government employee the right to remain posted at a single station all his life.
Hafiz Ihsan Khokhar Advocate, counsel for the FBR, replied that the tribunal’s decision was contrary to the legal framework of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.
He argued that the government had full authority to post and transfer its officials. “A civil servant is an employee of the state, not of any particular city or a station,” he said, and added that the federal government employees could be posted anywhere in the country.
The FBR’s lawyer opined that transfers of government officials were necessary in order to ensure administrative performance and transparency.
Khokhar went on to say that the wedlock policy was an administrative order, and was not legally binding.
Later, the SC adjourned the case’s hearing for an indefinite time period.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori