APNS review petition adjourned till Feb
January,07,2004. The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the review petition of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) against the 7th wage board award till the first week of February and observed that no stay order existed that could restrict the implementation of the award under the law.
The bench consisted of Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwan Das and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan. The legal attorney of the APNS Abdul Hafeez Pirzada informed the court that he was set to go abroad and requested that the case be adjourned. The bench accepted the request and adjourned the case to be fixed in the first week of February. Before ordering the adjournment
Justice Iftikhar made it clear to the APNS counsel that the newspaper society was bound to implement the judgement of the court and no stay order had been issued to the petitioner which could delay the implementation of the Wage Board Award.
Pirzada said if the award was implemented by newspaper owners only for working journalists, even then the government would have to amend the Constitution. However, he said he would argue the case at the next hearing.
The review petition had been filed against an earlier decision by the Supreme Court in which the petition challenging the 7th Wage Board Award and the Newspapers Employees (Condition of Service) Act 1973, had been dismissed.
Newspaper owners have maintained in the petition that the Newspapers Employees (Condition of Service) Act, 1973 conflicted with the Constitution of Pakistan for not being in consonance with Article 8 of the Constitution therefore the Newspapers Employees Act as well as the 7th Wage Board Award should be repealed for being unconstitutional. The Federation of Pakistan, 7th Wage Board Award chairman, 10 owner members of the board, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), All Pakistan Newspaper Editors Council and Implementation Tribunal have been made respondents.
Source: Daily Times
Date:1/7/2005
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