BASHARAT AHMAD SHAIKH, J.- Respondent Zaheer Ahmad filed appeal before the Service Tribunal which was dismissed by holding that Zaheer Ahmad had filed appeal against certain letters which were not orders, therefore, his appeal was not maintainable. It was also held that in any case letters did not amount to final orders in respect of terms and conditions of service within the meaning of Section 4 of the Service Tribunals Act. This finding has not been challenged by Zaheer Ahmad and has thus attained finality.
2. However, the Tribunal also passed the following order:- "6. Therefore, in the afore-mentioned circumstances the appeal filed by the appellant is dismissed being unsustainable. However, the District Education Officer Elementary [Male] Muzaffarabad is directed to investigate the dispute between the appellant and respondent No. 5 and pass a final order."
Respondent No. S before the Tribunal, Abdul Khaliq, has filed this appeal with leave of the Court to challenge the direction given by the Tribunal. It is submitted by Mr. Faruq Hussain Kashmiri, his Learned counsel, that after the finding that the appeal was not maintainable the order passed by the Tribunal is without jurisdiction. His contention is opposed by the learned Advocate-General, Raja Sheraz Kayani.
3. In our view the direction reproduced above has been given by the Service Tribunal without legal warrant. The powers of Service Tribunal are given in sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the Service Tribunals Act which reads as follows:- "5. Power of Tribunals.- (1) A Tribunal, may, on appeal, confirm, set aside, vary or modify the order appealed against."
The phraseology of the legal provision reproduced above shows that the Tribunal can only at on an appeal and has no suo motu powers to issue any direction or pass any order. After finding that the appeal filed by Zaheer Ahmad was not maintainable no power was left in the Tribunal to issue any direction. It is also clear from the provisions reproduced above that the Tribunal may confirm, set aside, vary or modify an order against which appeal has been filed before it. The direction given by the Service Tribunal is not covered by any of the actions mentioned above.
4. Therefore, the appeal is accepted and the direction given by the Tribunal in para 6 of its judgment is vacated. The result is that the appeal filed by Zaheer Ahmed before the Service Tribunal shall stand dismissed in toto.