ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Justice Mohammad Farrukh Irfan Khan of Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Thursday directed the authorities of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra to appoint lower cadre employees on upper posts.

This was in response to the petitions of some PAC employees who were working in Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 1 and 2 but had been selected for technical positions from BPS-9 to BPS-14 in their own organization after completing all formalities.

The counsels for the petitioners said 48 lower cadre employees had qualified for the upper posts and the PAC administration had initially issued appointment letters to them but they were later asked to continue working in their existing positions.

They said the PAC administration had appointed fresh candidates in the upper positions and were unwilling to accommodate their own lower cadre staff.

This had created unrest among the petitioners and other qualified candidates.

The administration, in response, had offered a promotion and had constituted a board for this purpose.

The standing counsel for the federation said the petitions of PAC employees were not maintainable as the Federal Services Tribunal (FST) was the competent forum where such petitions should be directed.

The court, however, maintained that this was a matter of fundamental rights and the PAC administration should consider their lower cadre employees at par with the other staff.