The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has held that the Federal Ombudsman cannot bypass the prescribed legal procedure for determining eligibility for pension. A three-member FCC bench, headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, announced the judgment in a pension case titled 'Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) vs Javed Iqbal Bhatti and others'.

The petitioner, EOBI, had filed an appeal against the order passed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dated March 11, 2026, whereby its petition was dismissed. After hearing the case, the FCC allowed EOBI's appeal and set aside the IHC judgment, along with the orders of the Federal Ombudsman and the President of Pakistan.

"A person who does not fulfill the legal requirements for pension cannot be ordered to be granted pension," says the 12-page judgment authored by Justice Amin-ud-Din. The court held that a dispute over a legal right cannot be termed merely as maladministration to expand the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman, adding that the rejection of a pension application, by itself, does not constitute maladministration.

The court held that for an act to constitute maladministration, elements such as arbitrariness, discrimination, negligence, or unjustified delay must be present. The court noted that an applicant suffering due to compliance with mandatory legal requirements does not amount to maladministration.

The court further noted that under the EOBI law, a minimum of 15 years of contributions is generally required for entitlement to pension. "The special five-year concession does not apply to insured employees who joined on or after July 1, 2008," said the judgment.

The court held that the insured employment of the respondent, Javed Iqbal, was less than six years; therefore, he did not acquire entitlement to pension. The court noted that the Old-Age Grant of Rs48,000 previously paid to him does not create a right to pension.

"The mandatory legal eligibility requirement cannot be waived on the basis of compassion or a general notion of fairness," it said. The court noted that eligibility, amount, and duration of benefits will be determined under Section 33 of the EOBI Act, adding that the EOBI law provides a mechanism for review and appeal against its decisions.

"An order issued without jurisdiction cannot acquire legal validity merely through endorsement by the president or a court," the judgment concluded.