Pensioners drag HDA to court

SHC orders development authority to furnish details of pension funds

HYDERABAD:

As the retired top officers of Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) have knocked the door of the Sindh High Court, complaining against non-payment of pensions, the authority has been ordered to lay bare details of all its expenses. The Hyderabad Circuit Bench comprising justice Agha Faisal and justice Zulfiqar Ali Sangi on Thursday ordered the HDA's Director General Pervez Baloch to submit details of all the authority made payments during the last 6 months.

He was also directed to place on record the details of the entire pension funds which have been invested by the HDA. The order was given in a petition filed by 29 pensioners and their families who pleaded before the court to order the HDA to release their pensions along with arrears.

They apprised the court that the payment of pensions was stopped in September, 2023. The bench observed that during the hearing the DG HDA did not contest the claim of the petitioners that they were entitled to pensions. He, rather, explained before the court that the delays in release of the pensions are being caused by the authority facing financial constraints.

The petitioners including Muhammad Younus Memon, Kafeel Ahmed, Masood Ahmed Jumani, Muhammad Iqbal Memon and other retired officers complained that before completely halting payment of pensions, they had also dealt with two to three months delays.

They maintained that they are worried about the HDA Employees' Pension Funds which they authority had invested in banks with the stated purpose of welfare of the pensioners. The banks includeNational Savings Center, Soneri Bank, Allied Bank Limited and Muslim Commercial Bank, among others.

They bemoaned that non-payment of pensions had made it difficult for them to pay for their regular and health expenses. The petitioners prayed the court to order the HDA to immediately release their pensions along with all the arrears. They also pleaded that the HDA should be barred from investing and utilizing the pensioners' funds for any purpose other than the welfare of pensioners and for payment of their pensions.

During the hearing advocate Irfan Ali Bughio filed the power on behalf of the DG, Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of HDA. The SHC adjourned the hearing to July 31.