Withholding pension a violation of rights: CJ IHC

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) chief justice observed on Monday that suspending or withholding the pension was a violation of the basic human rights and directed the accounts general office to resolve the petition issue of former director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Bashir Memon.

While hearing a petition filed by Memon against withholding of his pension, Chief Justice Athar Minullah directed the accounts general office resolve the matter within a week or submit an affidavit, stating reasons for withholding of his pension on the next date of hearing.

The chief justice remarked that if this could happen to an FIA director general, what would happen to a normal civil servant? He told the representative of the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) that they should rectify the system.

The AGPR representative said that the establishment secretary had not yet responded to the objections raised by accounts general office. The chief justice said that when his resignation was accepted, then else remained? He added pension papers should be cleared the next day of the retirement of a person.

“Withholding one's pension is a serious violation of fundamental rights,” he said. “Now is the age for technology. Everything should be on the computer. “In pensions [matters] you should make things easier,” he said.

The court was informed that the establishment division had approved Memon’s pension. The chief justices asked when [former secretary] Younus Dhaga's pension was approved why not Bashir Memon’s. The AGPR correspondent said that the case of Dhaga was different.