Why Executive doesn’t Comply Judicial Orders? A Case Study of Muhammad Arif’s Case in the Education Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Executive non-compliance with judicial decisions poses a significant challenge to democratic governance and the rule of law. This research examines this phenomenon within the context of Pakistan's education sector, focusing on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED). A qualitative case study of a protracted promotion dispute involving a DPE (Director of Physical Education), Muhammad Arif, analyzes how formal E&SED promotion procedures were subverted by informal practices and the influence of powerful interest groups, leveraging a biased DPE in a management position. A neo-institutional framework is employed to demonstrate how institutional decoupling and informal power dynamics within the E&SED shaped the response to the court's decision. The analysis explores the primary institutional and procedural factors contributing to the non-implementation of judicial decisions and examines how accountability structures, or their absence, impacted compliance. The findings reveal that non-compliance stemmed primarily from an interest group's strategic actions, facilitated by a biased DPE in a management position who manipulated documents and court responses to serve his own interests and those of junior officers within that group. This highlights the limitations of formal oversight mechanisms and underscores the urgent need for reforms to enhance transparency and accountability within the KP E&SED to strengthen the rule of law and improve educational equity.