Expat wants details of money spent on such officials. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday issued notices to the secretary of the Establishment Division based on a petition filed by an overseas Pakistani seeking the court’s help in obtaining details of civil servants employed in international financial institutions.
Justice Athar Minallah of the IHC issued notices to the respondent while hearing the petition.
Anjum Mubashar Mughal, holding dual nationalities of Pakistan and Belgium, has sought details of the civil servants under Article 19-A (right of information) of Constitution. He had named the Federation through Establishment Division (ED) secretary, as the respondent.
Mughal, through his counsel Yasir Mehmood Chaudhary, had said that he was an indirect taxpayer and was directly aggrieved by the government permitting civil servants of Pakistan to join the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and other international institutions instead of serving in Pakistan.
The counsel had argued that the government of Pakistan spent large sums of public money on recruiting and training civil servants.
On February 5, Chaudhry said that the petitioner had written to the ED secretary, but the respondent did not respond. Hence, the official, Chaudhry claimed, had breached Article 19-A of the Constitution.
Contending that the matter was of public importance and that the respondents were legally bound to provide information under Article 19, Chaudhry sought the list of in-service civil servants who were currently serving in international financial institutions.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2017.
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