A court has ruled that Pakistani Public Servants can be ordered to submit details of their cellular phone numbers and social media accounts to their relevant Departments.
The decision was made after the Lahore High Court heard a contempt of court petition objecting to a social media campaign being run against the judiciary in the wake of the arrest of an Assistant Commissioner on the orders of a Civil Judge in Sahiwal.
Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan said Departments should decide a code on how Public Servants used social media.
President of the Provincial Management Service (PMS) Officers Association, Naveed Shahzad Mirza (pictured) apologised unconditionally to the court on behalf of the officers involved in what he described as “objectionable posts on social media”.
The Chief Justice accepted the apology and ended the contempt proceedings.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that Public Servants reinstated after wrongful dismissal are entitled to full back pay and benefits for the time they were under suspension.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said any other finding would be a breach of the workers’ constitutional rights.
The court was hearing an appeal against the decision by the Punjab Service Tribunal which had stated that payment of pay and benefits was at the decision of the employer
Justice Shah said the only exception would be if the employee had accepted another employment or engaged in any profitable business during the period of suspension, in which case the money earned should be offset against the salary.
Islamabad, 2 May 2021
