ORDER: Raza Ali Khan, J.- The captioned petition for leave to appeal has been addressed against the judgment of the High Court dated 22.11.2022, whereby, the writ petition filed by the respondents, herein, has been disposed of. Ch. Shoukat Aziz, the learned Advocate has filed power of attorney and caveat on behalf of the respondents which has been made part of the record. Syed Ashfaq Hussain Kazmi, the learned Advocate has also filed an application for impleadment of Shazia Gul, Computer Lab Assistant, which is accepted and she is hereby impleaded as party in the line of respondents.
2. The matter in hand pertains to payment of monthly salary of the respondents as well as other incumbents who have served in the Education Department. The respondents, herein, were serving as Junior Computer Teachers on adhoc basis in all the Districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir who were appointed by the Information Technology Board against the posts of Scheme namely, "Establishment of Computer Labs in Educational Institutions District of Azad Jammu and Kashmir".
Their posts were advertised through advertisement No. AK11D/7/21, for the purpose of permanent appointment, however, the same was challenged by the respondents before the High Court. The learned High Court while partly accepting the appeal, ordered for payment of monthly salary to the incumbents for the period they have served in the department. Sh. Attiq-ur-Rehman, the learned Advocate appearing for the petitioners mainly stressed on the point that the High Court has wrongly observed in the impugned judgment regarding appraisal of the Muhammad Aslam Abbasi, Law Officer, whereas, the Law Officer did not make any such submission but only appraised with respect to the payment of salary to the extent of respondents, in this regard, the affidavit of Law Officer has also been filed. He further submitted that the impugned judgment of the High Court is liable to be set-aside on this sole ground. On the other hand, Ch. Shoukat Aziz and Syed Ashfaq Hussain Kazmi, the learned Advocates appearing for the respondents opposed the petition and submitted that the impugned judgment of the High court is quite in accordance with law. The High Court has rightly ordered for payment of the salary of the respondents along-with similar incumbents who have served in the department, which is quite legal and does not call for any interference by this Court.
5. I have heard the learned Advocates for the parties and gone through the record of the case made available. The matter pertains to payment of salary of the incumbents who have served during certain period of time in the Education Department. The perusal of the impugned judgment of the High Court reveals that the High Court has not committed any illegality while issuing a direction to the departmental authority to pay the salary of the incumbents. Payment of salary is a fundamental right of any incumbent and should be treated as such. It is the legal obligation of the employer to make timely and accurate payments to their employees and it should not be delayed or denied for any reason. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that all employees receive their salary in a timely manner and in accordance with the terms of their employment contract. It is important that employers respect the fundamental rights of their employees to receive their salary in a timely manner and in accordance with the terms of their contract. This right is also protected by the law, and employers should adhere to it. Moreover, Islamic teachings are quite evident in this regard as it is narrated from 'Abdullah bin 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah ( )said: "Give the worker his wages before his sweat dries." In another hadith, it is narrated, "The rich, despite his riches, cannot delay of payment to the (Reference: Sunnan Ibn Majah, 2443 worker, for it is a crime".[11] These Hadiths show the general principle that wages need to be paid promptly, and an employer cannot unduly withhold the wages of an employee. In the light of Islamic teachings and basic principle of law, wages are considered as a right and not benevolence from the employer; so the wages of employees are their basic right and the same cannot be infringed.
However, workers and employers can negotiate the payment of wages on daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly terms according to their mutual consent. In such state of affairs, the learned High Court has rightly passed the impugned judgment which does not call for any interference by this court.
Therefore, the petition for leave to appeal stands dismissed with no order as to costs.