SC moved for stopping ex-GB chief judge’s pension

Lawyer contends Shamim is not entitled to benefits under law

ISLAMABAD:

A lawyer belonging to Gilgit-Baltistan has approached the top court for halting the monthly pension of former chief judge of the region, Rana Shamim.

Rashid Minhas Umar, through his counsel Muhammad Nawaz Kharal, has filed petition under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution.

The petition stated that after the promulgation of the Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009 the then government had appointed retired SC judge Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi as the first chief judge of the G-B Supreme Appellate Court for three years.

It added that there was no provision for pension benefits. Instead on the completion of three years, the judge had “illegally and improperly” fixed his pension and benefits, which were drawn by him.

The petition further stated that the pension and benefits were also availed by other judges who were appointed with him.

It also stated that later, the then federal Kashmir Affairs minister Manzoor Ahmed Watto had appointed his “blue-eyed worker” and an advocate of his hometown -- Rana Muhammd Arshad, a resident of Okara, who was practicing as an advocate in Lahore, the second G-B chief judge for three years under the Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009.

“In the period of three years, no such any judgment has been passed by him … and on [the] completion period of three years he had illegally, improperly drawn the pension and benefits,” read the petition.

“After this, one Dr Rana Muhammad Shamim who was elevated in 2007-08 as an additional judge in the Sindh High Court, after the period of 7/8 months was shunted out from the Sindh judiciary as he was corrupt and incompetent, [and] has also forged his date of birth.”

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The plea maintained that Shamim was a worker of the PML-N and was one of the lawyers in the “Musharraf plane hijacking case”.

When the PML-N came into power, it first appointed him (Shamim) as the chairman of the Press Council of Pakistan, it added.

The petition further claimed that as soon as the post of the G-B chief judge fell vacant, Shamim was appointed to the post for three years on August 30, 2015.

The petition contended that chief judge and the judges with them were appointed under the G-B Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009 and no pension and benefits were admissible.

It is also stated that on October 5, 2018, the G-B Bar Association in its meeting which was chaired by the petitioner, being its president, had passed a unanimous resolution demanding that the G-B Council Secretariat and its secretary, who was the secretary of the ministry of Kashmir Affairs and G-B as well and the G-B AGPR in the connivance with each other, had released an amount of Rs640,00,000 and monthly Rs750,000 as pension for Shamim be withdrawn.

The petition requested the SC to recover Rs67.4 million from Shamim, which was given on account of pension. Likewise, the monthly pension of Rs750,000 should be stopped, the court was asked.