{"id":20029,"date":"2026-06-23T15:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=20029"},"modified":"2026-06-23T15:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:48:13","slug":"supreme-court-issues-important-judgment-on-government-employees-service-seniority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=20029","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Issues Important Judgment on Government Employees\u2019 Service Seniority"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Islamabad (HRNW)-\u00a0<\/strong>The <strong>Supreme Court of Pakistan<\/strong>, in <strong>Civil Petitions No. 1065-K of 2025 and others<\/strong>, has issued an important judgment upholding the decision of the <strong>Sindh Services Tribunal<\/strong> regarding the determination of seniority among government employees.<\/p>\n<p>The case pertained to the <strong>inter-se seniority of lecturers in the College Education Department of Sindh<\/strong>, where appointments were made through the <strong>Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC)<\/strong> in different phases and at different times for various subjects. A consolidated seniority list was later prepared, which was challenged by some officers on the grounds that although they were selected earlier, they were placed at par with or below those selected later.<\/p>\n<p>The Sindh Services Tribunal had accepted the appeals and held that under <strong>Rule 11(a) of the Sindh Civil Servants (Probation, Confirmation &amp; Seniority) Rules, 1975<\/strong>, an employee selected in an earlier selection process must rank senior to those selected in later selections.<\/p>\n<p>The Government of Sindh challenged this decision before the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>After detailed consideration, the Supreme Court observed that the wording of <strong>Rule 11(a)<\/strong> is clear and unambiguous, stating that <em>a person selected in an earlier selection shall rank senior to a person selected in a later selection<\/em>. The Court held that the date and batch of selection cannot be ignored while determining seniority.<\/p>\n<p>The Court further observed that if a tribunal\u2019s decision affects the seniority of an employee, the aggrieved employee has the right to challenge it, and the government cannot file an appeal merely on the basis of dissatisfaction with the outcome. It emphasized that the government must act as a fair employer rather than as an adversarial party in disputes between employees.<\/p>\n<p>Finding no legal error, irregularity, or jurisdictional defect in the Tribunal\u2019s judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed all civil petitions.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling is considered a significant precedent in service law, particularly regarding <strong>seniority, promotion, and inter-se seniority disputes<\/strong>, reaffirming that employees selected earlier will hold seniority over those selected later.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Disclaimer:<\/strong><br \/>\nThis report is based on the described Supreme Court judgment and related legal proceedings. It does not constitute legal advice.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_20029\" class=\"pvc_stats total_only  \" data-element-id=\"20029\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Islamabad (HRNW)-\u00a0The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in Civil Petitions No. 1065-K of 2025 and others, has issued an important judgment upholding the decision of the Sindh Services Tribunal regarding the determination of seniority among government employees. The case pertained to the inter-se seniority of lecturers in the College Education Department of Sindh, where appointments were&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_20029\" class=\"pvc_stats total_only  \" data-element-id=\"20029\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 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