TANVIR IOBAL SIDDIQI vs THE PRINCIPAL, OVERSEAS PAKISTANIS' FOUNDATION
The petitioner, a former Science Laboratory Assistant at the Overseas Pakistanis' Foundation Girls College, challenged the termination of his employment via a writ petition, which the High Court dismissed on the grounds that the Overseas Pakistanis' Foundation (O.P.F.) is not a statutory body and its employees are not civil servants. The petitioner sought leave to appeal against this decision. The core legal question was whether the O.P.F. performs functions in connection with the affairs of the Federation, thereby rendering it amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision, affirming that the O.P.F. is not a department of the Federal Government and was not created by any statute. Consequently, the Court held that the writ petition was not competent because the Foundation does not perform functions in connection with the affairs of the Federation. The petition for leave to appeal was dismissed, reinforcing the principle that writ jurisdiction is inapplicable to non-statutory bodies not performing governmental functions.
- Is the Overseas Pakistanis' Foundation a statutory body amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973?
- Does the Overseas Pakistanis' Foundation perform functions in connection with the affairs of the Federation?
- Is a writ petition competent against a non-statutory body that is not a department of the Federal Government?
- Article 199, Constitution of Pakistan 1973
MUHAMMAD AFZAL LONE, J.-The petitioner was employed as a Science Laboratory Assistant/Technician with the Overseas Pakistanis' Foundation Girls College, Islamabad. His services were terminated on 30-4-1990. He assailed the validity of the termination order through Writ Petition No. 323 of 1992, which was disposed of at the limine stage by a learned Single Judge of the Lahore High Court, vide his order dated 22-7-1992, from which leave to appeal is sought by the petitioner. The High Court declined to intervene on the ground that O.P.F. Which runs the College though an autonomous body, yet is not the creation of any Statute. It was maintained that if the petitioner claimed the status of civil servant, he should have approached the Service Tribunal; on the other hand, the O.P.F. Being not the statutory organisation, the petitioner's remedy lay in filing a civil suit.
2. We have heard the petitioner in person. The O.P.F. Is decidedly not a department of the Federal Government. The fact that it has not been created by virtue of any Statute has also not been disputed before us. It is not shown that the Foundation performs the functions in connection with the affairs of the "Federation" within the meaning of Article 199 of the Constitution. The High Court, therefore, rightly came to the conclusion that the writ petition is not competent. We have not been persuaded to differ with the view expressed by the learned Single Judge.
There is no merit in this petition. The leave prayed for is, therefore, refused and the petition dismissed.