The court notes that a caretaker setup can never be equated in authority with an elected government
ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has declared appointments made during the caretaker period illegal, while upholding the constitutionality of a law passed to dismiss those employees, in a landmark decision on the scope of interim governments’ powers.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi issued a detailed written judgment stating that interim governments are only mandated to carry out day-to-day administrative affairs and cannot take decisions of a permanent nature.
The court observed that a caretaker setup can never be equated in authority with an elected government, adding that all actions taken by such governments are subject to the prior approval of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
According to the judgment, recruitment of employees constitutes a permanent act rather than a temporary measure and therefore falls outside the mandate of an interim government.
The court ruled that appointments made between January 2023 and February 2024 during the caretaker period in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were illegal.
It held that the KP Employees Termination Act 2025 does not violate fundamental rights. It clarified that the fact that a law affects certain persons does not automatically make it unconstitutional.
The judgment noted that the KP Assembly, formed after general elections, has the constitutional authority to legislate, including enacting laws related to public employment.
As a result, the court dismissed complaints filed by the terminated employees who had challenged both their dismissal and the law, after which they were removed.
The case relates to the recruitment of Grade-IV employees by the KP caretaker government ahead of the 2024 general elections. After the general elections, the PTI government terminated these employees through legislation, prompting the affected individuals to challenge the move in court.
