PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has dismissed a petition filed by over 50 faculty and administrative members of Women University Swabi, rejecting their request for regularisation of contractual employment.
The court reaffirmed that contractual appointments do not grant an automatic right to permanent employment unless explicitly provided by law.
The petitioners argued that they had been serving on sanctioned posts for an extended period and, therefore, deserved regularisation. However, the court ruled that their initial appointments were made on a contract basis without an open and competitive selection process, as required by law.
The judgment further stated that the petitioners failed to establish any legal entitlement to regularisation, and their claims could not override the university’s obligation to uphold merit-based hiring.
Representing Women University Swabi, Barrister Syed Saad Ali Shah successfully argued that public sector appointments must follow due process, transparency, and open competition, as mandated by law. The university maintained that regularising employees without lawful recruitment would violate legal principles and Supreme Court rulings.
In its detailed ruling, the court emphasised that public employment is a public trust, and bypassing statutory hiring requirements could undermine academic recruitment integrity. It also noted that some petitioners had already participated in fresh recruitment processes, further weakening their claims for automatic regularisation.
The decision aligns with Supreme Court precedents, which hold that contractual employees cannot claim regularisation unless expressly provided for by law. The ruling is expected to set a benchmark for other public sector institutions facing similar legal disputes.
