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Writ Petition No. 302 of 1956, decided on 21st March 1958.

‑On abolition of Government department a Government servant holding temporary post transferred to another Government department and posted to an equivalent post without any terms and conditions being attached to this appointment‑Held that previous conditions of service became inapplicable on transfer to other department and an order terminating services of such servant was null and void‑Case for writ‑Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 170, 180 and 181.

Punjab Province v. Syed Athar Ali P L D 1956 Lah. 886 rel.

Munwar Abbas for Petitioner.

S. Nasiruddin for Respondent.

‑‑The facts giving rise to this writ petition may be summarised as under; The petitioner was selected by the Public Service Commission for appointment as Manager, Government of Pakistan Press, Lahore; and the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Industries by its letter dated 11th March 1950 offered the post of Manager, Government of Pakistan Press, Lahore on the following terms and conditions (1) That the post is purely temporary at present and his appointment to it will be in a temporary capacity;

(2) That Mr. Mohsin Abbas will remain on probation for a period of six months, and

(3) The appointment will be terminable without notice during the period of probation and on one month's notice on either side thereafter.

Before the petitioner could take over as Manager, Govern ment of Pakistan Press, Lahore, another letter dated 10th April 1950 was issued to him. The letter runs as follows :

"In partial modification of this Ministry's letter of even number dated the 11th March 1950 1 am directed to say that consequent on the transfer of the post of Manager, Pakistan Government Press, Lahore to the Governor‑General's (Press) Karachi it has been decided to appoint Mr. Mohsin Abbas, as Manager, Governor‑General's Press, Karachi. Other terms and conditions will be the same as mentioned in para. 2 of this Ministry's letter referred to above. If the offer is accept able to Mr. Abbas, he may kindly be relieved and directed to report himself for duty at the Governor‑General's Press, Karachi, as early as possible."

The petitioner's posting was notified in the Gazette in the following terms :

"Mr. Sayed Mohsin Abbas has been appointed Manager, Governor‑General's Press, and Publications, Karachi, in a tem porary capacity on probation for six months with effect from the forenoon of the 22nd April 1950."

The petitioner completed his probationary period and the following notification was issued on 15th December 1950 :

"Mr. Sayed Mohsin Abbas, who was appointed Manager, Governor‑General's Press, and Publications, Karachi, on proba tion for six months with effect from the forenoon of the 22nd April 1950 has completed the period of his probation satis factorily. He will continue to officiate as Manager of the Press vice M. N. Khunakar on deputation to the Government of East Bengal."

About a year and a half later the Governor‑General's Press, Karachi was abolished and he was posted as Manager, Govern ment of Pakistan Press, Karachi as it would appear from the following notification dated 12th April 1952

"On the abolition of the Governor‑General's Press, Karachi, Mr. S. Mohsin Abbas, has been posted as Manager, Govern ment of Pakistan Press, Karachi, with effect from the 1st March 1952 (Forenoon)."

Shortly after i.e., on 19th May 1952 the services of the petitioner were terminated. The petitioner appealed to His Excellency the Governor‑General of Pakistan who accepted the appeal and ordered the petitioner's reinstatement as Manager, Government of Pakistan Press. The decision of His Excellency the Governor‑General was communicated to the petitioner by means of a letter dated 29th April 1955 which was in the following terms :

"I am directed to refer to your appeal dated the 8^th August, 1952 to His Excellency the Governor‑General of Pakistan against the order of termination of your service as Manager, Government of Pakistan Press and to say that His Excellency the Governor‑General is pleased to accept your appeal and to re‑instate you to the post of Manager, Government of Pakistan Press with effect from the 1st August 1952. This Ministry's letter No. E‑II (Ind)‑9(25)/49 dated the 19th May 1952, as amended subsequently in respect of the date of termi nation of services, is hereby cancelled."

Only a day after i.e., on 30th April 1955 the services of the petitioner were again terminated and on 30th May 1955, by another letter he was offered a month's pay in lieu of one month's notice. This action purported to be based on the terms and conditions of his service. The petitioner has come against this order.

Mr. Munawar Abbas appearing on behalf of the peti tioner has urged a number of points two of them alone deserve consideration.

It is contended that on completion of probationary period the petitioner became permanent. Reliance has been placed on certain observations made by one of us in Noorul Hassan's case. But they have no application to the present case. At the time of the petitioner's appointment it was specifically stated that his appointment was in a temporary capacity. Even in this temporary capacity he was to put in six months probationary period and that his appointment even after completion of pro bationary period will be terminable on one month's notice. In such circumstances successful completion of probationary period would not make a temporary servant permanent ipso facto. A specific order to that effect was necessary. The order that was passed by the Government has been quoted above and this after reciting that the petitioner had completed the period of his pro bation satisfactorily proceeded to say that the petitioner would continue to officiate as Manager of the Press. There was no order making the petitioner permanent nor do the words used in the order indicate any intention to treat the petitioner as permanent. After anxious consideration we have come to the conclusion that even after completion of the probationary period the petitioner continued to hold a temporary post.

The next contention advanced on behalf of the petitioner is that on the abolition of the Governor‑General's Press, Karachi the services of the petitioner were not dispensed with but he was posted to another equivalent post i.e., as Manager, Government of Pakistan Press, Karachi without any terms and conditions being attached to this appointment. The conditions on which he was appointed as Manager, Governor‑General's Press, Karachi became inapplicable to the petitioner on the abolition of that post and he could not be governed by those terms and conditions. There is force in this contention. The line of reasoning adopted by the counsel for the petitioner finds support from the decision of Ortcheson, J. in the case of Punjab Province v. Syed Athar Ali (P L D 1956 Lah.886). The facts of this case were that the plaintiff was employed in the Rationing Department which ceased to exist with effect from 31st March 1950 but the plaintiff instead of being discharged was transferred to the Food Department where he was posted as Assistant Food Controller. Ortcheson, J. held that the declaration given by the plaintiff at the time of joining the Rationing Department stood cancelled with the extinction of the Rationing Department. We are therefore of the opinion that the original conditions did not apply to the petitioner when he was posted as Manager, Govern ment of Pakistan Press, Karachi. In this view of the matter the order terminating the services of the petitioner is null and vaid.

The result is that the petitioner is entitled to a writ declaring the order terminating his services as Manager, Government of Pakistan Press, Karachi null and void.

A. H. Writ issued.

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