The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that employees appointed on contract against permanent posts and later regularised may have their continuous prior contract service counted toward pension and other financial benefits, subject to applicable rules.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar announced the judgment in 20 civil petitions filed by the Punjab School Education Department. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar authored the ruling.
The cases involved women officers appointed on contract on February 12, 2010, against Grade-18 positions of Senior Headmistress and Deputy District Education Officer (Women) on the recommendation of the Punjab Public Service Commission.
Their services were later regularised with effect from September 10, 2011.
The Supreme Court observed that when employees serve against posts of a permanent nature and are subsequently regularised, completely ignoring their continuous contract service could deprive them of legitimate past service without lawful justification.
The court held that pension is an earned right intended to provide financial security after retirement rather than a reward or charity.
It further stated that the government could not benefit from an employee’s prolonged contractual service and later deny pensionary benefits simply because the employee had not completed the required qualifying service after regularisation.
After examining the Punjab Civil Services Pension Rules and Civil Service Regulations, the court held that continuous temporary or contract service may be counted toward pension when an employee is subsequently regularised.
However, the Supreme Court clarified that counting previous contract service for pension purposes is different from giving retrospective effect to regularisation.
The court therefore did not uphold the Punjab Service Tribunal’s direction to treat February 12, 2010, as the initial appointment date for seniority, service records and related benefits.
The bench noted that changing seniority could affect the rights of other employees, who cannot be adversely affected without being given an opportunity to be heard.
The Supreme Court also directed government departments to reconsider the practice of keeping employees against permanent posts on contract for indefinite periods.
The court observed that denying pensionary benefits to employees after prolonged service was inconsistent with the demands of justice.
The ruling provides important clarification for government employees whose contractual service preceded their regularisation, particularly in cases where they served continuously against permanent positions.
