ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court has declared that recruitments made by the caretaker government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between January 2023 and February 2024 were illegal.
The court ruled that a caretaker government is only a temporary custodian of state affairs and does not have the authority to make or implement fundamental policy decisions.
A three-member bench of the Federal Constitutional Court, headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, announced the verdict in a case related to appointments made during the caretaker period in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The petitioners, including Noman Ahmad, Ms. Fatima, Syed Jamal Shah, Owais Karni, Ms. Faryal, and others, had challenged the July 3, 2025 decision of the Peshawar High Court.
The High Court had earlier dismissed these petitions, declaring them inadmissible and baseless as they were based on similar legal and factual grounds.
After hearing arguments from all parties, the Federal Constitutional Court also rejected the appeals and upheld the decision of the Peshawar High Court.
In a 10-page judgment authored by Justice Rozi Khan Barrech, the court stated that it is a settled constitutional principle that a caretaker government acts only as a temporary administrator of the state machinery and does not have the authority to formulate or implement major policy decisions.
The court noted that the role of a caretaker government is limited to ensuring administrative continuity, maintaining neutrality, and facilitating the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections.
It further stated that actions exceeding this limited mandate—such as permanent appointments, policy decisions, or financial commitments with long-term implications—would be considered violations of legal boundaries and subject to judicial review.
The court held that in the present case, the petitioners failed to establish any violation of fundamental rights under Articles 4, 9, and 25 of the Constitution, nor did the available record provide evidence of such violations.
The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the recruitments made by the caretaker government between January 2023 and February 2024 were unlawful.
It also held that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Employees Dismissal Act 2025 is not in conflict with fundamental rights.
The judgment stated that the fact a law affects certain individuals does not automatically mean it violates fundamental rights.
The court further observed that the elected provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has full constitutional authority to legislate.
