2018 PLP (C (PLC(CS)N)

JAWAD HASSAN, J.

Through the instant Appeal, filed under Section 3 of the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1972, the Appellant has challenged the validity of order dated 03.10.2017 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P. No.4138/2016 who dismissed the petition filed by the Appellant being not maintainable on the ground of non-statutory Rules.

2. Learned counsel for the Appellant inter alia submitted that the impugned order is against the law and facts; that the learned Single Judge has failed to appreciate the fact that the petition before it was maintainable as violation of procedural requirements were complained of; that this fact has also been ignored that non-statutory rules cannot be made sole basis for dismissing the writ petition when the Appellant assailed other violation of law; that there were violation of other laws viz. regular inquiry was not held before inflicting the harshest penalty of dismissal from service which is violation of Article 10-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 (the "Constitution"), in case of major penalty regular inquiry is mandatory which is missing in the case in hand, copy of inquiry report was not provided to the Appellant, inquiry Officer was junior in rank to the Appellant, impugned dismissal order was non-speaking, as such the impugned order is liable to be set aside. Learned counsel for the Appellant has placed reliance on the cases titled The Director-General National Commission For Human Development and another v. Ambreen Ansari and another (2015 PLC (C.S.) 1398), Ms. Salma Moosajee and another v. Federation of Pakistan and others (2014 SCMR 135), The Commandant, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Constabulary, Headquarters v. Muhammad Nasir and others (2015 PLC (C.S.) 1320) and Abdul Ghani v. Registrar, Trade Unions, Hazara Division At Haripur and 2 others (2000 PLC (C.S.) 136).

3. We have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the Appellant and gone through the record.

4. From the perusal of the impugned order it reveals that the writ petition of the Appellant has been dismissed being not maintainable on the alone ground that the National Insurance Company Limited (the "NICL") is a Public Limited Company and has no statutory Rules. The learned Single Judge by relying on the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Civil Petitions Nos.437 and 897 of 2010 titled Choudhary Aurang Zeb v. National Insurance Company Ltd. through its Chairman Ministry of Finance Government of Pakistan, Islamabad and others has observed that the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan has already held that Rules of the NICL are non-statutory in nature and dismissed the petition being not maintainable.

5. We examined the contents of the order dated 05.01.2016 in which the Appellant was terminated by the Respondents. It is evident from the said dismissal order that the same has been passed after conducting three (3) inquiries in accordance with the Human Resources Manual (the "HRM") of NICL and by applying Part-I, Chapter XII, Section 3.1 of the HRM, the Appellant was dismissed from service. It is unequivocal that the said dismissal order was passed under the HRM which is non-statutory Manual of the NICL against which writ petition is not maintainable. It is settled proposition of law that this Court has no jurisdiction against the employees of Companies and also the employees serving in any statutory corporation not having statutory Rules, except if they are proceeded under a statute. In this case the Appellant challenged the orders dated 05.01.2016 and 02.12.2016 passed by the Respondent-Department which is infact the order passed in pursuance of the non-statutory Rules. We, therefore, fully agree with the findings of the learned Single Judge who in the impugned order has held that as the issue in hand has already been settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan that Rules of the Respondent-Department are non-statutory in nature, thus the writ petition is not maintainable and the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan is binding upon all the other Courts in Pakistan under Article 189 of the Constitution. The learned Single Judge relied upon the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in case titled Abdul Wahab and others v. HBL and others (2013 SCMR 1383), Pakistan International Airline Corporation and others v. Tanweer ur Rehman and others (PLD 2010 Supreme Court 676), Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Limited through Chairman v. Iqbal Nasir and others (PLD 2011 Supreme Court 132) and Muhammad Zaman and others v. Government of Pakistan through Secretary Finance Division (Regulation Wing), Islamabad and others (2017 SCMR 571).

6. In this view of the matter, the NICL has no statutory Rules and the relationship between the Appellant and the Respondent-Department is that of master and servant. It is an established principle that in such like cases the Constitutional petition is not maintainable. The case law relied upon by the learned counsel for the Appellant is distinguishable from the case in hand and cannot be relied upon as each and every case has its own facts and circumstances.

7. In view of above, we see no illegality or jurisdictional error in the impugned order which has been passed by the learned Single Judge in consonance with the spirit of law, as such does not warrant any interference by us. Consequently, the instant Appeal is devoid of any merit and is accordingly dismissed in limine. ZC/A-103 Appeal dismissed.