DECISION ' These were in all nine connected appeals of the workers of Pakistan Steel Fabricating Company (Pvt.) Limited against their order of termination. Pending the proceedings six of the appellants were reinstated in service by the company while as stated by Mr. Jafri the case of the present three appellants is still pending before the Committee for allowing their re-instatement.
2. The appellants had been in service of this company said to be a subsidiary of Pakistan Steel Mills for approximate ten years. They served in various capacities as Technical Assistants though they were designated as foremen and one of them was even designated as Junior Officer but according to their evidence they were all doing manual work as Technical Assistants.
3. By an order dated 23-8-1992 their services were terminated. The reason given was that their services were no longer required by the company.
' 3-A. It has been argued by Mr. Khadim Hussain for the appellants that their grievance petitions were dismissed solely on the ground that they were officers and not workers. However, more designation or rate of salary are not the criterion for judging whether the persons involved are workers or officers. It is the nature of duties that has to be considered for determining this question.
According to evidence led by the appellants, their work was of manual nature and they were skilled technical workers.
4. It has next been argued that the services of these appellants cannot be said to have been terminated on account of re-organisation. There is no mention of retrenchment or re-organisation in the order of termination. In fact sufficient reasons are not mentioned for terminating their services in the letter of termination referred to above. Under section 12 of the Standing Orders Ordinance the reasons for termination must be explicitly stated in the order of termination in writing. This has not been done. It has been argued by Mr. Jafri that Standing Orders Ordinance is not applicable to the case ' of these employees and they have been given six months' notice of termination under the Steel Mills Rules but this is a private company known as Steel Fabricating Company and there is nothing to show the rules of Steel Mills will apply to the persons employed in the Steel Fabricating (Pvt.) Company. The Standing Orders Ordinance is Statutory Enactment and the orders contained therein will supersede any other rules of a private or public company. Order 12(3), therefore, applies to these employees and there is clear contravention of this order in termination of the services of the appellants.
5. The order of the Labour Court is therefore set aside and it is directed that the appellants Muhammad Aslam, Firasat Ali Khan and Muhammad Hashim are reinstated in service with back benefits, as it was stated in the grievance notice and grievance petition that they were unemployed since their termination and this fact has not been controverted by the management.
These appeals are, therefore, allowed and the re-instatement order may be implemented within a period of 30 days.