Allotment of houses to judges irks IHC

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court on Saturday expressed its displeasure over the inclusion of judges in the list of allotment of government houses to federal employees and issued notices to the secretaries of the prime minister; housing and law ministries; and the Cabinet Division seeking their replies on the matter.

It directed the housing and law secretaries to appear before the court in a personal capacity at the next hearing of the case.

The court also stopped the federal government from the allotment of houses to senior civil servants of grades 21 and 22 without merit and priority list till September 1.

A written order authored by Justice Babar Sattar read that according to the list, five judges of the IHC were allotted houses.

It added that court asked the additional attorney general why the judges were not included in the category of state officials.

On the question of some judges not being allotted houses, the additional attorney general replied that that it was subject to their availability.

However, the law clearly stated that judges would be provided with houses during their service and it was not subject to their availability.

A judge was entitled to a house at the time of his appointment just as they received their salary, official vehicle and chamber.

The law secretary should inform the court who was responsible for providing facilities to judges.

According to the report, Rashid Mahmood, the additional secretary of the food ministry, was allotted a house by relaxing the general waiting list.

The court issued notices to both the housing secretary and additional secretary, who benefited from the allotment, seeking their replies.

The IHC observed that that Kamran Ali Afzal, a grade 22 officer, was allotted a house in April 2023 when he was the director general of the Civil Service Academy in Lahore.

It added that Kamran Ali Afzal should tell the court why no action should be taken against him for accepting a government house in Islamabad without entitlement.

In the written order, the court noted that it was alleged that the allotments were made on the basis of nepotism by ignoring the merit list.

The IHC sought a report from the federal government to inform the court under which laws the allotments were made.

It added that the report submitted to the court lacked the information it had asked for.

The IHC observed that prima facie, the information provided was an attempt to mislead the court.

The affidavit of the housing secretary was not submitted as per the court’s instructions.

The court noted that it was told that a new housing secretary had taken charge and he was not feeling well today.

The IHC ordered the housing secretary to appear in person at the next hearing and answer the court's queries.

It also directed the housing secretary to submit the report again to the court along with an affidavit that the information provided was complete and correct.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till September 1.