A two-member Supreme Court bench of Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui ruled on Tuesday that good governance requires institutions to learn from recurring disputes.
In a service matter, the court dismissed an additional inspector general of Punjab Police's appeal against a Punjab Service Tribunal order of December 20, 2024. The respondents, recruited in the General District Police Cadre, moved into the Traffic Warden Service Cadre after restructuring in 1995 and the 2017 Traffic Warden System, then faced a return to the Police Cadre in 2024.
Petitioners said the respondents were never officially absorbed and remained Police Cadre members. The respondents relied on a Standing Order and the 2017 rules and said the absorption was permanent.
Justice Ayesha A. Malik's three-page judgment said cadre changes fall outside the ESTA Code when a Standing Order makes absorption explicit.
The court noted their long service in the traffic cadre and the specialised training and courses they completed, and called repatriation uncalled for. It held that departmental disregard for the rules generates unnecessary litigation, upheld the tribunal and dismissed the petition, saying no interference was warranted.