P L D 1983 Peshawar 25 (PLP)

"According to the Oxford Dictionary, "Suspension" means action of debarring or state of being debarred, specially for a time from a function or privilege ; temporary deprivation of one's office or position or again, state of being temporarily kept from doing or deprived of something. Similarly to `suspend' means to debar, usually for a time, from the exercise of a function or a privilege ; specially to deprive (temporarily) of one's office ; or again to interdict. `Suspended' means temporarily deprived or office, position or privilege, or again intermitted. Thus the basic idea underlying the root word 'suspend' and all its derivatives is that a person while holding an office and performing its functions or holding a position or privilege, should be interrupted in doing so and debarred for the time being from further functioning in the office or holding the position or privilege. He is intercepted in the exercise of the functions or his enjoyment of the privilege and put aside, as it were for a time, excluded during the period from his function or privilege."

4. It has been observed in the case of Saifuddin v. Government of West Pakistan (P L D 1969 Lah. 506) that:‑ "Suspension need not be ordered in all cases when a Government servant is challaned. The criterion should be the same as in the case of depart mental enquiry. Normally, in Court case it should follow conviction and should be discretionary at other stages."

5. It has been observed in the authority quoted above (P L D 1964 Dacca 671) that :‑ "During the period of interim suspension, the person suspended continues to hold office and is given pay as subsistence allowance during that period, though he is debarred from actually performing the functions of that office. Thus, legally speaking, he remains the holder of the office and is not punished in any way till the completion of the enquiry. The punishment if any, is imposed on him only after the completion of the enquiry and on the basis of the result of the enquiry. In that view of matter, an order of suspension, pending a departmental enquiry is not a punishment."

6. In the case of. East Pakistan Government v. Hussain Ali (P L D 1958 Daeca 820) it has been held that :‑ "The power to order suspension is implicit in, every contract of service, and that in suspension there is no violation of natural justice as it merely involves temporary deprivation of office." When such an order is passed for suspension what in fact is being suspended, is his capacity to perform the functions of his office, to exercise the powers which be would otherwise have enjoyed as such officer to perform the duties normally assigned to an officer of that rank and of course, to draw his pay for only a subsistence allowance paid to him in place of salary. In case of Musharraf Hussain v. Chairman East Pakistan School Text Book Board (P L D 1968 Dacca 133) the petitioner an officer in the employment of the Text Book Board was suspended on the ground that his wife 'Amena Begum' a prominent member of the Awami League who was taking part in subversive activities against Govern ment. It was held that the appointing authority had the inherent right to suspend.

7. Suspension of the petitioner is evidently in aid of enquiry and, there fore, by reason of suspension he does not lose his office. His rank remain the same. He merely ceases to discharge the duties of his office during pendency of the enquiry. In the circumstances, the petitioner would have no cause to challenge his order of suspension. There is being thus no merit in the revision petition against the order of refusal to suspend the enquiry an order of petitioner's suspension.

8. This was one aspect of the case. The other would be to which reference has been made by the learned First Court of Appeal. In view of the full Bench judgment, Mian Amanul Mulk v. N: W. F. P. through Chief Secretary (P L D 1981 Pesh. 1) all matters relating to service, fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Services Tribunal. In this connection reference can be made to Clause (ii) of section 3 of the Service Tribunals Act, 1973. It reads :‑ "A Tribunal shall have exclusive jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to the terms and conditions of service of Civil servants, including dis ciplinary matters."

9. Finding no merit in the revision petition, it is dismissed in limine. S. A. H. Petition dismissed.