Supreme Court orders PIA to pay former employee’s 24-year pension dues

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has directed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to pay pension and other benefits to a former employee whose dues, according to his counsel, have remained unpaid for 24 years.

The case came before a three-member bench headed by Justice Shahid Waheed on a petition filed by former PIA employee Mustafa Ansari.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer told the court that Ansari had retired in 2002 under a scheme. Counsel said that the Sindh High Court had already ordered the payment of pension and other post-retirement benefits to his client.

According to the petitioner’s counsel, those dues were still not released despite the Sindh High Court’s directions. He told the bench that the amount outstanding covered the past 24 years.

Petition heard by three-member bench

The matter was taken up by a three-member Supreme Court bench led by Justice Shahid Waheed. The petition had been moved by Mustafa Ansari, who sought implementation of pension-related payments and benefits that, his lawyer said, had not been paid even after an order from the Sindh High Court.

The lawyer for the petitioner stated before the court that his client’s retirement took place in 2002 under a scheme. He further submitted that the high court had subsequently directed that pension and other benefits be paid.

Despite that order, counsel maintained, the former employee had not received the dues for the last 24 years.

Court directs payment

The Supreme Court then ordered PIA to make payment of the former employee’s pension and benefits covering the 24-year period mentioned in the petition.

The proceedings centred on the claim that the petitioner’s retirement benefits had remained unsettled for years despite prior judicial directions. The order issued by the apex court requires the national flag carrier to pay the pension and related benefits to the former employee.

The case highlights a long-running dispute over post-retirement payments claimed by a former PIA employee, with the Supreme Court now stepping in to order payment after hearing the petitioner’s position in court.