Supreme Court to hear Islamic Ministry’s ex-PS case despite late appeal

Supreme Court has concluded to hear Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) appeal in the case of Islamic Ministry’s former Permanent Secretary Musab Abdulla’s dismissal.

Musab was appointed as Islamic Ministry’s PS on July 25, 2017. He was suspended by CSC based on four complaints against him on May 29, 2019. He was initially suspended with pay, but had his suspension extended for four times without pay.

He was dismissed citing violation of Civil Service Act, and civil service regulations and code of conduct on September 10, 2021.

High Court concluded that Musab was wrongfully dismissed and ordered CSC to pay compensation to him during last August. CSC appealed the judgement to Supreme Court on December 7^th.

As per the Civil Procedure Act, appeals must be submitted within 30 days of receiving the case report. Sun has learned that the case report was released by High Court on November 30^th. CSC submitted the appeal to Supreme Court on December 7^th.

Musab’s side requested to reject the appeal as it was submitted after the deadline.

Justice Aisha Shujoon, in the judges bench presiding over the case, said that the bench acknowledges that the appeal was submitted after the deadline.

She added that the case was nevertheless accepted because Supreme Court had counted the timeframe without including government holidays. Justice Shujoon emphasized this had been a longstanding common practice of the court.

“The justices presiding over the case unanimously agree that the appellant’s right to appeal should not be infringed for following the common practices of the Supreme Court which have been well established,” she said.

The other two justices on the bench in the case were Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir and Justice Dr. Azmiralda Zahir.

Justice Shujoon also cited that the decision to hear the appeal was made in connection to the particular case as it would not qualify as a situation opening floodgates to take similar decisions in other cases which do not involve the same circumstances.

Civil Court, in November, ordered CSC to pay MVR 1.1 million within three days to Musab. CSC refused to comply with the judgment. While the case has now been appealed to Supreme Court, the court has issued an interim order to halt the payment of compensation to Musab.