Lahore High Court Upholds Recovery of Advance Increments and Pension Deductions

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the recovery of money paid as advance increments and upheld deductions from the petitioner’s pension, ruling that an unlawful financial benefit received for two decades does not become a legal entitlement merely with the passage of time.

Justice Shireen Imran issued a 12-page judgment on a constitutional petition filed by Muhammad Yasin, rejecting his claim for two additional advance increments on the basis of an LLB degree.

The court held that an employee who had already received two increments on the basis of an MA or MSc could not claim another two increments on the basis of an LLB.

According to the judgment, the facility of two advance increments for an LLB was available only to employees of institutions directly connected with judicial functions. The petitioner, an employee of the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat, failed to establish that his duties were directly linked to the administration of justice.

The court observed that even in the absence of fraud or misrepresentation, an undeserved financial benefit could not be retained. A financial benefit granted by mistake does not become a permanent legal right simply because it has been received for a long period.

The judgment further stated that no permanent right could be acquired over time on the basis of an unlawful order. If a benefit was mistakenly granted by a department in violation of law or policy, it could be recovered.

Muhammad Yasin had received two advance increments on the basis of his LLB degree in 2000. The department later ordered recovery of the amount paid under the increments.

The petitioner had challenged the recovery and deductions from his pension before the Lahore High Court in 2023. Justice Shireen Imran dismissed his constitutional petition and declined to declare him entitled to the additional two advance increments on the basis of his LLB.