Cutting through red tape: PHC official to hand over compensation to widow

PESHAWAR:

The widow of a formerly missing person, whose body was recovered from a gunny sack, will be compensated and the amount will be paid by a Peshawar High Court (PHC) official (nazir), assured Additional Advocate General Naveed Akhtar on Tuesday.

Farmanullah went missing from Nauthia, Peshawar in 2012, but his remains were found inside a gunny bag within the jurisdiction of Prang police station, Charsadda in January 2013. This led the court to direct the federal and provincial governments to compensate Farmanullah’s widow.

On July 18, the PHC warned of attaching federal and provincial property if the government failed to compensate Farmanullah’s widow by Tuesday (yesterday).

During the hearing on Tuesday, Naveed Akhtar informed the court the provincial government had issued the amount which the Peshawar commissioner will hand over. However, he asked the amount be delivered by the PHC official to facilitate Farmanullah’s legal heirs in collecting the money easily.

A PHC division bench comprising Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Musarrat Hilali later ordered the cheque to be paid by the court official.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2013.