KARACHI, 10 June — The government decision to lay off more than 11,000 employees of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) — about 50 percent of the total work force — has been challenged by the bank’s employees in the Sindh High Court. The court issued notices to the government and the bank management for June 13.
The petitioner, the president of the bank’s employees union, said that the separation scheme under which the workers would be laid off is discriminatory and a violation of Article 25 of the constitution because it enables the bank to pick and choose those employee who were entitled to opt for the scheme, without any reasonable basis of classification.
The scheme amounts to denying rights to lawful trade and profession as guaranteed under Article 18 of the constitution.
The HBL workers suspended work throughout the country on Friday to register their protest against what they termed “forced retirement.”
