Is there a right to be regularised after years on contract? Our research paper studies 100 judgments (74 of the Supreme Court and 26 of the Peshawar High Court) on contract, project, ad hoc and daily-wage employees. This article summarises what they decide.

Is there a right to regularisation?

No. Regularisation is not a vested right; it needs a statutory basis (Deputy Director Finance and Administration, FATA v. Dr. Lal Marjan, 2022 SCMR 566). Long service alone does not qualify (Deputy Commissioner Upper Dir v. Mst. Nusrat Begum, 2022 SCMR 964), and the passage of time confers no right (Vice-Chancellor, Bacha Khan University v. Tanveer Ahmad, 2021 SCMR 1995). An ad hoc or contract appointment creates no right to regularisation (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. v. Muhammad Samiullah, 2021 SCMR 998).

Regularisation must come from the authority the law empowers. It may not become another door of entry that bypasses the Public Service Commission (Abu Bakar Farooq v. Muhammad Ali Rajpar, 2019 SCMR 830). Recommendations by an incompetent body are void (Mohsin Raza Gondal v. Sardar Mahmood, 2025 SCMR 104).

The regularisation statutes

  • The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Employees (Regularization of Services) Act, 2009 covers only employees appointed by the Government, and section 3 excludes certain categories (Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v. Abdul Manan, 2021 SCMR 1871). Where an employee falls within the Act, a disclaimer in his contract does not defeat the claim (Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v. Liaquat Ali, 2021 SCMR 630).
  • The Punjab Regularization of Service Act, 2018 excludes project employees (Province of Punjab (Agriculture) v. Muhammad Arif, 2020 SCMR 507).

Project employees

  • Converting a project into regular posts gives the project staff no automatic right to those posts (Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v. Saeed-ul-Hassan, 2021 SCMR 1376).
  • An employee who accepted the project terms knowingly cannot later claim regularisation (Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v. Muhammad Younas, 2021 SCMR 1045).
  • The courts will not force employment where no post exists (Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v. Sher Aman, 2022 SCMR 406).

An earlier decision, Government of N.-W.F.P. v. Kaleem Shah (2011 SCMR 1004), placed project staff within section 19(2). In our view the later line on project posts now governs.

Parity: "others like me were regularised"

The Government cannot cherry-pick among employees who are similarly placed (Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v. Adnanullah, 2016 SCMR 1375). But an illegal benefit given to one person cannot be claimed by others (Vice-Chancellor, Agriculture University, Peshawar v. Muhammad Shafiq, 2024 SCMR 527). Parity can only be claimed with comparators who were lawfully appointed and regularised.

From what date?

Regularisation is the prerogative of the Executive, and takes effect from the date the policy or order provides (Province of Punjab v. Prof. Dr. Javed Iqbal, 2022 SCMR 897).

Writ petition or not?

A writ lies only where a law or policy applies across the board, and against a body amenable to writ jurisdiction (Waqar Ahmed v. Federation of Pakistan, 2024 SCMR 1877). The High Court cannot rewrite the terms of a contract (Khushal Khan Khattak University v. Jabran Ali Khan, 2021 SCMR 977). For some bodies, the relationship is governed by the rule of master and servant, which limits relief (Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. v. Iqbal Nasir, PLD 2011 SC 132).

Pay and pension

Contractual service cannot make up a shortfall in qualifying service for pension (Ministry of Finance v. Syed Afroz Akhtar Rizvi, 2021 SCMR 1546). But continuous, undisputed service may count under Article 371-A of the Civil Service Regulations (Chairman/Dean, Sheikh Zayed Hospital v. Amjad Mehmood Khan, 2025 SCMR 168), and daily-wage service may count towards pension (Imtiaz Khan v. Ministry of Defence, 2021 PLC(CS) 1237).

Practical checklist: for the employee

  • Identify the exact statute or policy you rely on before filing.
  • Prove that you were appointed by the Government, and the nature of your post (regular, project or ad hoc).
  • Check that any order or recommendation you rely on came from a competent authority.
  • Plead parity only with comparators who were lawfully appointed.
  • Claim benefits from the date the law or policy allows.
  • File promptly, and raise all your claims in one petition.

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This article is general information on the law, not advice on your own case. Time limits can matter, so speak to an advocate promptly about your own matter.