LAHORE - The Punjab Services Tribunal (PST) is working without its four members. As a result, pendency of cases at the tribunal dealing with service matters has reached 8,500, The Nation has learnt.

According to the official sources, none of the three civil members and one judicial member has been posted to date despite the fact that these positions fell vacant months ago. The tribunal is currently being run by the two judicial members, who are district and sessions judges, and a chairman, who is a retired high court judge.

Official sources said that aforementioned positions fell vacant after retirement or transfer of the members. Tribunal member Maqsood Ahmad Lak, a senior bureaucrat, retired on August 22, 2016. Another member, senior officer Khalid Mehmood Ramay, was transferred on April 20, 2017. The third member, civil servant Fehmida Mushtaq, retired on March 10, 2017. Jawadul Hassan, a district and sessions judge, completed his tenure on July 10, 2017.

“The two members could not do justice to the service matters pending for years,” said a former PST civil member on condition of anonymity. An increase in the number of government employees has increased the importance of the services tribunal, says the member, adding the government should not ignore it.

The PST has just reopened after summer vacation and to the surprise of litigants and their counsels the situation at the tribunal remains the same as it was before holidays.

Muhammad Ali, one of the litigants, said he was waiting for fixation of his case before the court but was shocked to know that members were still missing. A provincial service officer also criticised the government for not appointing members. He said that their case was pending in the tribunal for over two years.