' This is a petition under section 22-A(8)(g) of the I.R.O., 1969 filed by the petitioner Mr. Saif-ud-Din Chana who contends that he is an employee of the establishment of Associated Press of Pakistan and is posted as Director Economic News Service at Islamabad. It is contended that the petitioner is an active Member of A.P.P. Employees Union which is not only a registered industry wise trade union but also is the C.B.A. Of the establishment of A.P.P. It was further contended that due to lawful trade union activities of the petitioner the respondents got annoyed and as an act of victimization the petitioner was transferred from Islamabad to Karachi by order dated 11-6-1995 which constitutes an act of unfair labour practice within the meaning of section 15 of the I.R.O., 1969.
Considering such averments this commission granted injunction order in favour of the petitioner on 12-6-1995 whereby the transfer order dated 11-6-1995 was suspended.
2. The petition was strongly contested by the respondent by way of filing of the written statement and rejoinder to the stay application wherein certain preliminary legal objections as to the maintainability of the petition were also raised.
3. I have heard both the learned counsel for the parties i. e. Mr. Abdul Hafeez Amjad, Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. Muhammad Bashir Kiayani, Advocate for the respondents and also considered documents filed on record with their help.
4. The record shows that services of the petitioner were acquired by way of transfer from Karachi to Islamabad in the month of September, 1994 as Director Economic News Services at Islamabad. The order dated 11-6-1995 transpired that again the service of the petitioner were transferred from Islamabad to Karachi on the ground that the post of Director Economic News Services is based at Karachi. This seems to a routine transfer by the employer in the interest of the smooth functioning of the establishment. It is a well-settled principle of law that transfer of an employee is one of the fundamental rights of the employer for the better working and routine matters of the establishment. However, it also constitutes an act of unfair labour practice within the meaning section 15 of the I.R.O., 1969 if committed as an act of victimization against the employee due to his lawful trade union activities. The record shows that the petitioner is a simple member of the All Pakistan Associated Press of Pakistan Employees Union and there is nothing on record to establish any lawful trade union activities on the part of the petitioner in order to establish that such transfer was a result of victimization and as such, A as also stated above, the right of the employer to transfer his employee cannot be snatched away on mere allegations, in ignorance of exigencies of services in the establishment. The case in hand indicates a simple transfer of the employee from one place to another and it is also one of the term and conditions of services rendered by the employee to the respondent, as admittedly there exist a condition of transfer of the petitioner to any place in the contact of employment between the parties. In support of my such view I would like to quote the case law i,e, M/s. National Construction Company Limited v. S. Abid Hussain reported in 1993 PLC page 853 Muhammad Nawaz and others v. Provincial Chief UBL etc. Reported in 1993 PLC page 656 and M.C.P. Employees Union etc. v. Afzal Bhai etc. Reported in PLC 1979 13 and another case law submitted by the learned counsel for the respondents reported in PLJ1992 (Lab) page-122 also supports my views. The contention that the petitioner genuinely apprehends danger to his life at Karachi etc. May be true but not relevant for the disposal of the petition in hand.
5. As a result of the above discussion I am of the view that the petition is not maintainable which is dismissed without going into other discussion about the merits of the case. The petition is dismissed without any orders as to costs.