Islamabad: (Click Pakistan) Young people, students and country dwellers are not obligated by the law to obey the orders that are unconstitutional and illegal made even by the Prime Minister, decided the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday.
A case that was presented by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was heard by a three-member bench, headed by the same Justice Hashim Kakar, concerning irregular recruitments at the Oil and Gas Development Corporation Limited (OGDCL). According to the allegations made by NAB, the former minister, Anwar Saifullah, pressured the OGDCL chairman to make appointments to post without following the appropriate recruitment processes.
Justice Kakar pointed out that Pakistan is a democratic country and orders are not followed blindly. He observed that the government departments were overstaffed and reiterated the importance of the fact that the civil servants could not be liable to obey illicit commands.
Justice Salahuddin Panhwar further opined that the pressure by the masses and the politicians on the ministers generally poses tensions among the civil servants. NAB representatives reminded that civil servants can be punished in case of non-compliance, yet the rule of law is the one to be followed.
The court also raised the issues of the previous recruitments and privatisations. Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim noted that the appointments were made earlier than the law of accountability commission and that the minister had already served his sentence whereas Justice Kakar emphasised that convictions had a lifetime effect.
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