Inadequate Relief: Court orders compensation for widow

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) gave a 15-day deadline to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) secretariat to financially compensate the widow of a martyred Levy Force soldier, during the hearing of a petition on Tuesday. Chief Justice PHC Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was informed that Gulzar Ali, a member of the Levy Force, died on March 7, 2009 during a clash with militants in Mohmand Agency, was compensated by the federal government with Rs500,000, whereas the package for the martyred families was enhanced to Rs3 million. Counsel for the petitioner Naseema Gulzar, widow of Gulzar Ali, said the court had already given direction to the concerned departments to devise a strategy to provide compensation to her. CJ Khan added that if the Fata secretariat failed to provide the full compensation amount to Naseema within 15 days, a markup of 14% would be deducted from their salaries and given to her.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2012.