President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to ensure appointment of son of a deceased employee in accordance with the law within a month. Complainant Faheem Ahmed had lodged a complaint against the PCAA for his non-appointment against the “deceased employees” quota, said a President House press release. The complainant stated that his father was an employee of PCAA, who had died in the year 1999 during service due to cancer. As he was a minor at the time, he could not apply for appointment against the “deceased employees” quota. He said that when he applied for a job, his request was turned down without any justification. He approached PCAA for the redressal of his grievance but to no avail. Feeling aggrieved, he approached the Wafaqi Mohtasib for the resolution of his complaint.

The Mohtasib decided that the complainant had failed to make out any case of maladministration against PCAA as the Family Assistance Package was not applicable at the time of his application. The complainant then filed a representation with the president against the orders of the Mohtasib. President Asif Zardari in his decision observed that the complainant’s father expired in 1999 during service and at that time the petitioner was only six years of age. He noted that the petitioner applied for appointment, after coming of age, under the policy of 2005, according to which the son of a deceased employee was to be considered for appointment in the same department without undergoing the formality of advertisement. He rejected the claim of PCAA that it adopted the Family Assistance Package Policy in 2005 and that the provisions of the said package did not merit consideration due to the factual and legal position in the instant case.

The president pointed out that the contention of the Civil Aviation Authority was not legally correct in the circumstances of the present case as the petitioner attained the age of maturity after the introduction of the policy as he was not eligible to be appointed prior to the introduction of the policy. He held that this was the case of prospective application of the policy and not retrospective application of the policy. The president also placed reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Civil Appeal number 410/2020 dated 02-06-2021. Therefore, President Zardari accepted the representation of the complainant and asked the Civil Aviation Authority to process his application for appointment in accordance with the law within one month.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan