Vacation of appointment

Plea that an officer of armed forces who was taken into custody or was suspended from duty or was attached on disciplinary grounds, remained innocent till he was proved 'guilty', however under Rr.133(q), 133(r) & 133(u) of Volume 1 of Pakistan Army Regulations, such officer on vacation of his appointment lost his temporary rank and its emoluments which was against the Injunctions of Islam; that in contrast a government servant remained entitled to service emoluments and all other benefits and facilities provided to him for the period he remained suspended from duty

Validity

Rule 133 of Volume 1 of Pakistan Army Regulations ('impugned Rule') mentioned only the conditions for vacation of appointment

Said Rule did not affect the rules in Pay and Allowances Regulations under which command charge, staff or additional pay may, in certain cases, continue to be admissible to an officer and his successor notwithstanding the fact that he had ceased to actually perform, the duties connected with that appointment

According to the impugned Rule, an officer lost only the temporary rank and not the substantive rank nor its emoluments to which he remained duly entitled

In case of acquittal, such an officer may be reappointed to the post he had vacated from the first day of vacation of his original appointment, and in case of his conviction, if he received a sentence of less than dismissal, he may be reappointed from the date he returned to duty

As far pay and allowances of such an officer were concerned, the impugned Rule specifically provided, that these would remain unaffected under the Pay and Allowances Regulations

¬Petitioner could not refer to any specific Regulations in the Pay and Allowances Regulations which debarred such an officer from receiving his pay and allowances for the substantive ranks he held

Shariat petition being misconceived, was dismissed accordingly.