In 2019, ten administrators were dismissed from the Criminal Court, Family Court, and High Court, in addition to seven Magistrate Courts, stating they did not receive the required amount of points in an employment evaluation.
The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court's decision to reinstate the 10 court administrators, stating that they were wrongfully dismissed.
In 2019, ten administrators were dismissed from the Criminal Court, Family Court, and High Court, in addition to seven Magistrate Courts, stating they did not receive the required amount of points in an employment evaluation.
When this case was submitted to the Employment Tribunal, they decided the administrators' jobs needed to be reinstated. When Judicial Service Commission (JSC) appealed this case in the High Court, they upheld the Employment Tribunal's ruling.
In its verdict today, the Supreme Court stated that the reasons provided for the dismissal of the employees were not in accordance with the law. Additionally, the regulations previously laid out by the Supreme Court regarding employee dismissals were not followed in this case.
Therefore, the High Court's decision is upheld, Supreme Court said.
The employees in this case have also requested to be reinstated into their job roles. The Supreme Court ruled that all 10 employees should be reinstated into their jobs, as the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) had decided to reinstate only one of the plaintiffs.
The verdict stated that the JSC was not able to provide plausible reasons to the court for reinstating one employee and not the others. The verdict also added that the JSC does not have the discretion to reinstate one employee and not the others.
Although DJA had dismissed the administrative staff in the case, it was the JSC that represented them in the court.
In today's ruling, Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir opined that DJA has been vested the power to appoint, promote, dismiss, and take administrative action against administrative staff of the courts. He stated that they have both direct and indirect powers to exercise these responsibilities appropriately.
Therefore, Justice Mahaz stated that DJA has the power to appeal cases and receive cases against them in court. He also added that JSC does not have the legal standing to represent DJA in court in this case.
Justice Mahaz stated that typically the court would not proceed with the case as the regulations indicate that the JSC has no legal status to appeal in court. However, the case should be decided to prevent the employees from facing additional losses.
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