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Civil Petition No. 880 of 1979, heard on 2nd June, 1982.

(From the order dated 5‑9‑1979 of the Punjab Service Tribunal, Lahore, passed in Appeal No. 267 of 1977).

--Art. 17‑Dissolution of West Pakistan‑Transfer of Government servants serving in' One Unit to new Provinces‑Seniority, fixation of- Transfer not made in pursuance of policy relatable to dissolution of One Unit‑Any reference to instructions in circular letter dated 12‑5‑1970 misplaced‑Question of fixation of seniority of officials repatriated to Punjab in wake of dissolution of Province of West Pakistan finally decided by letter dated 23‑11‑1979 clarifying instructions being not applicable to individual cases where officials concerned transferred to Punjab from other Provinces at their own request and such officials to be treated as fresh recruits for purposes of seniority.‑[Civil service].

Ch. Hamiduddin, Senior Advocate Supreme Court instructed by Ejaz Ahmad Khan, Advocate‑on‑Record for Petitioner.

M. A. Bajwa, Advocate Supreme Court for Respondents.

Date of hearing : 2nd June, 1982.

‑‑The facts giving rise to this petition for grant of leave to appeal are that Muhammad Jalil Siddiqui petitioner joined Government service as Senior English Teacher in Quetta Region of the former Province of West Pakistan. In 1969 he made an application seeking his transfer to Rawalpindi Region where he was domiciled. His request was granted and by order dated 2‑9‑1971 he, along with some other Government servants, was transferred. The order, however, contained a condition that the persons so transferred "will forego their seniority and will be placed at the bottom of the seniority list of their cadre in accordance with the dates they join in this Region". In pursuance of the order, the petitioner joined his duties in Rawal pindi Region on 13‑10‑1971. Two months later, i.e. on 14‑12‑1971, he made a representation against the imposition of the said condition and asked for giving him the benefit of his service rendered in Quetta Region. He made fur ther representations in this regard on 4‑4‑1972, 15‑6‑1974, 21‑5‑1975, 15‑1‑1976, 28‑6‑1976 and 28‑7‑1976. Having failed in his efforts, he brought an appeal before the Punjab Service Tribunal in September, 1977. His case was that his transfer was covered by the provisions relating to the dissolution of One Unit, that the circular letter of the Government of West Pakistan dated 12‑5‑1970 was applicable to his case, that other officials transferred from the Province of Baluchistan to the Punjab in pursuance of the policy of the Government had been giving their seniority from the date of their original appointment and that, as such, he was also entitled to seniority on the same basis. The Tribunal did not accept the contention and held that his transfer was not carried out as a result of the instructions dated 12‑5‑1970 or the policy decision taken in 1972 and that the instructions of the Government are clear that in case of a transfer at the request of an official he has to lose his seni ority. On this view of the matter, the Tribunal declined to interfere vide its order dated 5‑9‑1979. Hence this petition.

2. Mr. M. A. Bajwa, appearing for the Department, put forth the plea that the appeal of the petitioner before the Tribunal had been barred by time. Since this question had not been raised before or adverted to by the Tribunal, we are not inclined to go into the same.

3. Ch. Hamid‑ud‑Din, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the application of the petitioner, made in 1969 but: not decided before 1‑7‑1970 which was the appointed day on which the dissolution of the Pro vince of West Pakistan took place, must be deemed to have stood disposed of and that since he made no application thereafter, the transfer of the petitioner must be held to have been made by way of allocation in consequence of the dissolution of One Unit. The submission, we are afraid, is without substance because the order dated 2‑9‑1971. itself says that the transfer had been made of the persons who had applied for their later‑Regional Transfers. There is nothing to show that the transfer in question had been made in pursuance of the policy relatable to the dissolution of One Unit. Any reference, therefore, to the instructions in the circular letter dated 12‑5‑1970 is misplaced because the same concerned "Implementation of Decisions regarding allocation of Personnel" to the new Provinces. Even in this circular letter there is a provision only for allocation. It contains no guarantee of actual transfer, for para. 5 of the letter says :

"It should be clearly understood that these allocations do not mean actual posting at the stage because surplus officers may be/to be posted on deputation/loan to provinces other than the Province of their domicile."

In fact, the question of fixation of seniority or the officials repatriated to the Punjab in the wake of the dissolution of the Province of West Pakistan was finally settled by letter dated 23‑11‑1974, in which it was made clear that "These instructions will not apply in individual cases where the officials concerned had/have been transferred to Punjab from Baluchistan and other Provinces at their own request. Such officials are treated as fresh recruits for purposes of seniority and shall be governed by orders issued sepa rately in each case."

4. The petition thus fails and is accordingly dismissed.

Petition dismissed.

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