PTV disobeys SC orders like those on NRO
By Usman Manzoor
ISLAMABAD: The NRO judgment is not the only case but there are some other orders too of the Supreme Court, which have not yet been implemented by the government.
One such case is that hundreds of employees of the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) have not yet been regularised despite the apex court’s directions, The News has learnt.
Many of the 837 employees of the PTV, after having been denied the right to regularisation, knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court where the counsel for the PTV submitted that the PTV agreed in principle to regularise these employees. The court’s order in the constitutional petitions 42/2009 and 48/2009, dated October 22, 2009, states: “The learned counsel for PTV states that PTV management agrees in principle to regularise the petitioners as well as employees of other groups. In view of statement made by Mr Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, the learned counsel appearing for PTV, the case is adjourned to a date to be fixed after two weeks.
In the meanwhile, the management of the PTV is required to complete the process of regularisation indication whereof has been made by the learned counsel.”
This case is being heard by the chief justice of Pakistan but because of high-profile cases like the NRO, this case could not get fixed for another hearing.
When told about the orders of the court, the Managing Director PTV Arshad Khan said the PTV’s board had held a meeting and declared that those employees did not come under the regularisation policy and it had been conveyed to the PTV counsel, who submitted the PTV’s version before the court. “The court did not call the PTV management or the counsel since then,” said Khan. “The PTV has not defied the orders of the court but has, in fact, implemented the government policy of regularisation of low grade employees in letter and spirit.”
Meanwhile, sources in the PTV said that the PTV management was hiring people in grade 4, 5 and 6 without any advertisement but was not regularising those who had completed their probation period. Interestingly, a unique criteria of pay raise was adopted a few months back, as a few got raise of Rs 15,000, while some were given a raise of merely a few hundred rupees.
The PTV management is using pressure tactics to make the petitioners withdraw their case from the SC, said the sources, who feared that those who had gone to the court would be victimised. They said one such employee had been sacked, while the case was still in the SC.
Source: The News
Date:3/14/2010
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