' Briefly stated the contention of the applicant Raja Muhammad Sarfraz Khan is that he was an employee of respondent United Bank Limited and was retired on 28.11.1996. At the time of his retirement respondent bank was a Government Bank, however, in the year 2002 the Bank was privatized and since then is limited company. At that time there existed the pension fund worth rupees ten billion and in this connection in the year 1997 a trust was also established by the bank for the welfare of the retired employees and also to meet with the pension dues. The grievance of the petitioner is that he has been receiving pension @ Rs.1321/- per month and similarly there are other bank employees who after retirement are getting extremely meager amount as pension which is in some cases is Rs.100/- to Rs.500/- per month. According to him earlier he made many applications to the management of the respondent bank for increase in the pension as well as medical facilities but the management did not respond to his request whereupon he approached the Labour Court and District Court Sargodha for redressal of his grievance but his petitions/suits were returned directing him to approach the proper forum for redressal of his grievance.
Considering this Commission (NIRC) the only proper forum to adjudicate and determine the matter in issue, the prayer of the applicant is that the respondent United Bank Limited be ordered to increase the pension and medical facility in accordance with the revised pensionery benefits approved by the Government of Pakistan and the same be brought at par with employees of National Bank, State Bank of Pakistan and other employees of Government.
2. The respondent United Bank Limited filed its comments through its representative contending therein that United Bank Limited is a privatized bank whose majority shareholding alongwith controlling shares and interest have been divested into a consortium of foreign shareholders of Abu Dhabi Group and Bestway Group, U.K. There are no statutory rules of service and it has now its own terms and conditions of service approved by the Board of Directors of the bank and increase in pension by the Government and any other state own organization is not applicable in the case of private organization. Further the applicant upon retirement seized to be a workman under Section 2(xxxiii) of IRA, 2012 and therefore this Commission does not have any jurisdiction to entertain the application. It has also been contended that the applicant previously filed grievance petition before Punjab Labour Court No. 5 Sargodha on same facts and grounds but withdrew the same. In addition to this he also made applications to the Hon'ble Lahore High Court as well as Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan for redressal of his grievance but the same did not born any fruit. Even otherwise there is no law pertaining to pension which is applicable to UBL and therefore no right guaranteed under any law, award or settlement has been fringed which calls for enforcement. Lastly the applicant having no cause of action or locus-standi to file the application which is otherwise not maintainable on legal premises, rejection of the same was prayed.
3. I have heard the applicant as well as learned counsel for the respondent bank.
4. Admittedly the applicant got employment in the respondent bank on 11.10.1973 as Cashier and later was promoted as Assistant and was retired on 28.11.1998. It is also not disputed that at the time the applicant was retired the respondent bank was owned by the Government of Pakistan and it was privatized in the year 2002. Further the parties are not at variance that earlier the applicant has been knocking the doors of different Courts for redressal of his grievance but could not succeed as he was directed by such forums to approach the proper forum for redressal of his grievance. Ultimately the applicant through the instant application has approached this Commission (NIRC) seeking redressal of his grievance.
5. Before proceedings further in the matter it would be appropriate to first look into the legal objections raised by the respondent bank with regard to the jurisdiction of this Commission to entertain the application. This Commission is a creation of special statute namely Industrial Relations Act, 2012. It shall apply to all persons employed in an establishment or industry in the Islamabad Capital Territory and earring on business in more than one province. The functions assigned to this Commission besides others is to adjudicate and determine the industrial dispute, redressal of individual grievance of the worker etc. The term 'worker' and 'workman' has been defined in Section 2(xxxiii) which reads as under: "worker" and "workman" mean person not 'falling within the definition of employer who is employed (including employment as a supervisor or as an apprentice) in an establishment or industry for hire or reward either directly or through a contractor whether the terms of employment are express or implied, and, for the purpose of any proceedings under this Act in relation to an industrial dispute includes a person who has been dismissed, discharged, retrenched, laid off or otherwise removed from employment in connection with or as a consequence of that dispute or whose dismissal, discharge, retrenchment, lay-off, or removal has led to that dispute but does not include any person who is employed mainly in managerial or administrative capacity".
There is nothing on record to indicate as to under which law or award or settlement right had accrued to the applicant to entitle him to invoke jurisdiction of this Commission under the Industrial Relations Act, 2012. The applicant being a retired worker is not included in the definition of a worker so as held in 1984 PLC 752 Labour Appellate Tribunal Punjab, and 1979 PLC 320 Karachi. This Commission has therefore no jurisdiction to entertain the incompetent proceedings initiated by the applicant and it is well settled principle of law that if a mandatory condition for the exercise of jurisdiction by a Court, tribunal or authority is not fulfilled then as held in PLC 1990 Karachi 362 the entire proceedings which follow become illegal and suffer from want of jurisdiction.
6. In the light of what has been discussed above instant application is incompetent and not maintainable, the same is therefore dismissed. However the respondent bank keeping in view the meager amount of pension of its retired employees insufficient to meet with the expenses of daily life in the present days of dearth, may look into the grievance of the applicant on compassionate grounds. File to records.