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Civil Petition No. 50‑R/1986, decided on 15th March, 1986.
(Against the judgment, dated 19th February, 1986 of the Punjab Service Tribunal in Appeal No. 910/1159 of 1984).
‑‑‑Art. 212(3)‑‑Punjab Service Tribunals Act (IX of 1974), S. 4‑ Limitation‑‑Time‑barred appeal accepted by Service Tribunal‑ Government servant resigning from service‑‑Subsequently claiming continuous service and seniority‑‑Leave to appeal granted to consider inter alia whether question of bar of limitation could be overcome by making general observation as was done by Service Tribunal; and whether employee could be allowed to repudiate his own act after he had himself submitted his resignation and preferred a job other than one which he was being offered by Government.
Dr. Khalida Usmani v. M.H. Randhawa 1984 C L C 119 and P L D 1963 S C 382 ref.
Sh. Ghias Muhammad, Senior Advocates Supreme Court, Zaki‑ud‑Din Pal and Khalid Ranjha, Advocate Supreme Court instructed by Ch. Akhtar Ali, Advocate‑on‑Record for Petitioners.
D. M. Awan, Senior Advocate Supreme Court, Ehsanullah Khan Lilla, Advocate Supreme Court and Imtiaz M. Khan, Advocate‑on‑Record for Respondents.
Date of hearing: 15th March, 1986.
The petitioner, Professor of Opthalmology, King Edward Medical College, Lahore, seeks leave to appeal under Article 212 (3) of the Constitution against the judgment of the Punjab Service Tribunal dated 19‑2‑1986 holding that in spite of the respondent No.1 having resigned from Government Service on 9‑5‑1975 he be deemed to be in Government service continuously since 15‑9‑1967 and further directing the Government of Punjab to assign him appropriate seniority as Professor of Medical Colleges.
The respondent No.1 was indeed in the service of the Government of Punjab when on his selection as Professor in the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, he tendered his resignation from the Government Service which was accepted on 19‑5‑1975. Soon thereafter on 7‑7‑1975 he addressed a letter to the Minister of Health, Government of Punjab, Lahore, that in view of his excellent service record and about eight years of Government service, his resignation "may kindly be reconsidered and he may be kept at Fatima Jinnah Medical College on deputation for a further period of 5 years". He was informed on 13‑8‑1975 that "his resignation was accepted and conveyed to him and the matter ends so far as Government is concerned". The Minister also rejected the representation on 3‑5‑1976.
The respondent addressed another representation on 29‑4‑1978 to the Martial Law Administrator, Zone 'A', Lahore. He requested therein that:‑
" (i) My resignation from service may be treated as null and void.
(ii) My subsequent service period with Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, may be treated as on deputation.
(iii) My original seniority in the department may be maintained."
He was informed by letter dated 24‑2‑1979 that resignation once tendered and accepted cannot be withdrawn and that his request could not be acceded to.
A decision of the High Court of Lahore in Dr. Khalida Usmani v. M.H. Randhawa 1984 C L C 119 came to the notice of the respondent No.1 wherein it was held that the Fatima Jinnah Medical College was one of the institutions nationalized under Martial Law Regulation No. 118 of 1972 and it vested in the Government from 1‑9‑1972 and had come under the administrative control of the Government. On 15‑7‑1984 the respondent No.1 again filed a representation to the Government claiming continuous service in the Government Department and fixation of seniority accordingly. On 12‑11‑1984 he filed an appeal in the Service Tribunal.
The objection on the ground of limitation was dealt with and disposed of by the Service Tribunal with the following observations:‑
"When there is question of substantial justice involved; which lies in favour of the appellant, we do not hesitate to overrule and repel technical and hyper technical objections which have been so raised by the respondent vis‑a‑vis limitation, in view of the law so settled down by Supreme Court of Pakistan in PLD 1963 S C 382."
On merits the Service Tribunal allowed the claim by holding as follows: ‑
"We also further find that his resignation was also under a mistaken belief of law, because he resigned from his job at the behest of the Govening Body of the Fatima Jinnah Medical College, also suffering from the same belief due to mistake of Government, to join the Institution, which was a Government Institution and if he had known the real status of Fatima Jinnah Medical College, he would not have done the same."
The questions raised in this appeal, inter alia, are whether the question of the bar of limitation could be overcome by making the general observations as was done by the Service Tribunal. Further, on merits when the respondent No.1 had himself submitted his resignation and had preferred a job other than the one which he was being offered by the Government could he be allowed to repudiate his own act. The question, among others, are substantial and require an authoritative pronouncement. Leave to appeal is, therefore. granted. The impugned order is suspended. The appeal to be heard on the present record with liberty to the parties to file additional documents which they consider necessary.
It appears from the record that there are certain other petitions on the same subject already filed or are in the process of being filed. These should be located and connected with this appeal.
M.I. Leave granted.
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