Govt accommodation: SC summons minister to explain illegal order
Additional Secretary of housing directed to submit report on occupancy of units.
The bench directed the DSJ to nominate a judicial officer to hear all the cases related to the estate office and dispose them of as quickly as possible. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
While illegal allocation of government accommodation is the norm, bureaucrats and ministers might want to weigh the benefits against the costs after the Supreme Court on Thursday summoned a junior minister for housing to clarify an order related to the allotment of a government quarter.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ijaz Afzal and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed directed the minister to appear before the court and explain why he forced estate office to issue an unauthorised allotment letter for a quarter.
The residence in G-6/2 sector was allotted to an employee of the Higher Education Commission instead of an official of the Federal Bureau of Revenue despite the fact that the matter was pending before the apex court. The court also directed Faisal Butt, an employee of HEC, to appear before the court and explain how he managed to get the quarter allotted in his name.
Housing Additional Secretary Amina Imran Khan informed the bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that assistant estate officer (AEO) Nazir Ahmed who had issued the allotment letter had been suspended. A notice has been issued to him for disciplinary action, she added.
The AEO had informed the court that he was forced to issue the letter by Estate Officer (Enforcement) Ayub Jan, a front man of the minister. He had stated that a written order by the minister was attached to the file.
The additional secretary said there were 185 cases where residential units had been trespassed and illegal occupants had obtained stay orders from the courts.
There are about 18,000 housing units for public servants owned by the government in Islamabad, Khan informed the bench, but she could not answer a question related to the number of units which were sub-let or handed over to friends and relatives of government officials in whose name the allotments were made.
The chief justice directed the additional secretary to carry out a detailed survey on the occupancy of government houses and the status of officials who were allotted the units. He asked her to submit a report within 20 days.
During the course of hearing, a report compiled by the district and sessions judge (DSJ) Islamabad West Division stated that 720 cases pertaining to disputes over allotment and possession of residential units in the federal capital were pending in courts.
The bench directed the DSJ to nominate a judicial officer to hear all the cases related to the estate office and dispose them of as quickly as possible.
The bench adjourned the hearing till March 20.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2013.
While illegal allocation of government accommodation is the norm, bureaucrats and ministers might want to weigh the benefits against the costs after the Supreme Court on Thursday summoned a junior minister for housing to clarify an order related to the allotment of a government quarter.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ijaz Afzal and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed directed the minister to appear before the court and explain why he forced estate office to issue an unauthorised allotment letter for a quarter.
The residence in G-6/2 sector was allotted to an employee of the Higher Education Commission instead of an official of the Federal Bureau of Revenue despite the fact that the matter was pending before the apex court. The court also directed Faisal Butt, an employee of HEC, to appear before the court and explain how he managed to get the quarter allotted in his name.
Housing Additional Secretary Amina Imran Khan informed the bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that assistant estate officer (AEO) Nazir Ahmed who had issued the allotment letter had been suspended. A notice has been issued to him for disciplinary action, she added.
The AEO had informed the court that he was forced to issue the letter by Estate Officer (Enforcement) Ayub Jan, a front man of the minister. He had stated that a written order by the minister was attached to the file.
The additional secretary said there were 185 cases where residential units had been trespassed and illegal occupants had obtained stay orders from the courts.
There are about 18,000 housing units for public servants owned by the government in Islamabad, Khan informed the bench, but she could not answer a question related to the number of units which were sub-let or handed over to friends and relatives of government officials in whose name the allotments were made.
The chief justice directed the additional secretary to carry out a detailed survey on the occupancy of government houses and the status of officials who were allotted the units. He asked her to submit a report within 20 days.
During the course of hearing, a report compiled by the district and sessions judge (DSJ) Islamabad West Division stated that 720 cases pertaining to disputes over allotment and possession of residential units in the federal capital were pending in courts.
The bench directed the DSJ to nominate a judicial officer to hear all the cases related to the estate office and dispose them of as quickly as possible.
The bench adjourned the hearing till March 20.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2013.