Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, J.--Syed Abdus Samad Pirzada, Associate Professor of History Government College Satellite Town Rawalpindi, has been granted leave to appeal from the judgment dated 28.1.2006 of the Punjab Service Tribunal Lahore, whereby, his appeal, asking for fixation of pay in BPS-18 with effect from 4.9.1984, was dismissed.
2. The appellant was Assistant News Editor in Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation drawing basic pay at Rs, 2800/-. Against an advertisement issued by Punjab Public Service Commission, he applied for the post of Assistant Professor of History through proper channel. He was selected and relieved of his duties from Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. On appointment as Assistant Professor in the Education Department of the Government of Punjab, his pay was fixed at Rs, 2100/-, the initial stage of BPS-18. His prayer for re-fixation of his pay in BPS-18 with effect from 4.9.1984 by protecting his previous pay was not acceded to either by the department or the Tribunal.
3. The Corporation where the appellant his previously served, was a creation of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Act, 1973, with effect from 20.12.1972. The Broadcasting concern, prior to that, was known as Radio Pakistan, as department of the Government of Pakistan, headed by the Director General Radio Pakistan. All the employees thereof were in the service of Pakistan and serving in connection with the affairs of Federal Government. When such organization was turned into a Corporation, the services of Civil Servants stood transferred to the Corporation on the same terms and conditions to which they were entitled immediately before such commencement, under Section 12 of the Act. Similar was the advantage given to the persons of Information Service of Pakistan under Section 12(4) of the Act whose services stood transferred to the Corporation. The purpose of the- above reference is to realize that when the organization from Government service was turned into Corporation, the terms and conditions of service of the civil servants were not changed to their detriment. Thus on the principle of justice, equity and fair play, such privileges should not be denied to a person-who being a Corporation employee joins a civil service through Public Service Commission and through proper channel.
4. The above was the principle of equity, and justice that prevailed with a full bench of this Court in a case of this very Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (1995 SCM R 1593) where it was held that the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation being a Government controlled regimented Corporation playing an important role in the media of information was like a department of the Government and further that the employees of the Corporation holding a civil post will be covered by the definition of civil servants as given in Section 2(a) of the Service Tribunals. Act,1973. The point to be noticed, with emphasis, is that this status was given to the employees of Corporation when subsequently inserted Section 2-A of the Service Tribunals Act was not even in view.
5. An employee of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation though not a civil servant in the strict sense of term yet granted the status thereof through the above judgment, it was followed by a full tench of this Court in Amjad Hussain's case (1998 SCM R 1442) where the matter of fixation of pay was determined in the light of F.R.22 (A)(i). It was a case where, conversely to the one in hand, a civil servant was inducted into an autonomous body and in the given circumstances it was held that he was entitled to the protection and fixation of his pay in terms of Fundamental Rules (Supra), in the light of principle laid down in Chairman Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (1995 SCM R 1593).
F.R.22(A)(i) can also be applied to the cases where a person through proper channel leaves the present Corporation to join civil service.
6. It may be advantageous to refer to another case of Nafees Ahmad (2000 SCM R 1864) where, again a full bench of this Court while dealing with the case of an employee of State Bank of Pakistan (an autonomous body/Body-Corporate under the State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956) who was transferred to Government service through Federal Public Service Commission in the Federal Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division, this Court has gone to the extent of granting him pensionary benefits of previous service under autonomous body. The authorities concerned were held bound, inter alia, to follow the law regarding protection of pay and counting of his period of service with the autonomous body towards the pensionary benefits.
7. The appellant has placed on record an Order No, 249/U0 No, FD.SR.III-1-93/84 dated Lahore the 29th December 1985, whereby, Finance Department, Government of Punjab had given Mr. Aleem- ud-Din Bhatti, a Sub-Engineer Road Construction Division, Rawalpindi nine advance increments on entry into Government service in lieu Of his past service in the WAPDA, which also happened to be an, autonomous body. He further produced another copy dated 26.4.1984 of the Government of Punjab Department of Housing, Physical and Environmental Planning (No, SO.(E)H&PP-4-2/83), whereby, one Mr. Altaf Hussain Assistant Director (Town Planning) was granted two advance increments in lieu of his past service of about three years as Town Engineer in the Sargodha Improvement Trust. The appellant also demanded the same privilege, whereby, his previous pay could be protected.
8. For what has been discussed above, the instant appeal is accepted, the impugned judgment dated 28.1.2006 of the Federal Service Tribunal is set aside and the respondent Government is directed to fix the pay of the appellant in BPS-18 with effect from his joining the Education Department by giving him protection of pay that he had last drawn in the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation.