LHC upholds policy ending free electricity units for WAPDA, DISCOs officers

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has upheld the federal government’s decision to monetise free electricity units previously granted to officers of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and power distribution companies, according to a ruling that emerged on Friday.

Justice Malik Javid Iqbal Wains announced the verdict while dismissing a constitutional petition filed against a notification issued by the Ministry of Energy’s Power Division on December 5, 2023.

The notification introduced a policy under which free electricity units earlier provided to officers in BPS-17 and above serving in Wapda and former Wapda entities, including distribution and generation companies, were converted into a monetary benefit. Under the revised arrangement, officers are required to pay their electricity bills, while a fixed amount based on their earlier entitlement has been added to their pay.

Officers from BPS-18 to 22 had previously been receiving a combined 75 million units of electricity, with the annual cost estimated at Rs4 billion to Rs4.5 billion.

The petition had been filed by the Gujranwala Electric Power Company Engineers & Officers Association through its chairman. The association argued that the free electricity units were part of the officers’ service conditions and had been enjoyed continuously since their induction into service.

Senior lawyer Ramzan Chaudhry, appearing for the association, contended during the proceedings that the withdrawal of the facility was unlawful, discriminatory and unconstitutional, especially when lower-grade employees in BPS-1 to 16 were still receiving the benefit.

Assistant Attorney General Malik Tanvir Awan defended the government’s decision, saying the measure was part of financial rationalisation in the power sector, which he said was facing serious problems including circular debt and operational losses. He argued that the facility had not been withdrawn altogether, but had instead been converted into a monetary component to improve administrative efficiency and address issues including delayed recoveries and duplication.

Court’s findings

In his judgment, Justice Wains said the central issue was whether free electricity units amounted to a vested or statutory right that could be enforced through constitutional jurisdiction.

The judge held that the free units were a service-related privilege rather than a statutory or vested right. The judgment said no legal provision or statutory rule had been presented to show that the benefit was an enforceable entitlement.

Justice Wains further observed that the monetisation policy was a valid executive decision taken as part of wider financial restructuring and did not suffer from illegality or arbitrariness.

On the question of discrimination, the judge ruled that officers in BPS-17 and above formed a separate cadre and that different treatment based on reasonable classification did not violate constitutional guarantees.

The judgment also said that economic and fiscal policy choices fall within the executive’s domain and that courts cannot replace that judgment unless a clear constitutional breach is shown. "Interference of this nature would also run contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers," it said and also rejected the contention that the policy infringed fundamental rights.

Minister welcomes ruling

Power Minister Awais Leghari welcomed the court’s decision in a post on X, describing the end of the benefit as a long-standing public demand.

He said abolishing the facility was a “very old and long-standing demand of the people”. He added, “Alhamdulillah, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the free units of the power sector employees have been abolished.”

The minister also said the power sector “will take every step for the collective betterment of the country and the nation”.