Lower courts: Govt given last chance to submit reply in judicial allowance case

'A committee has been formed but is yet to finalise recommendations'.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Wednesday gave the government one last chance to submit its reply to a petition seeking special judicial allowance for the employees of lower courts.

Acting Advocate General Punjab Mustafa Ramday told the court that the chief minister had formed a committee in this regard as the post of finance secretary was vacant.

He said the committee was yet to finalise its recommendations, however the matter would be resolved soon. Ramday sought more time from the court in this regard.

The court adjourned proceedings till January 24 and told the AGP to submit the committee’s report in court at the next hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel had said that the court had previously granted the lower courts’ employees a provision for judicial allowance but the government had flouted the court’s orders. He said the court should be granted financial autonomy.



Abdul Malik and other petitioners had said that employees of the lower courts in the Punjab performed duties similar to those performed by the Lahore High Court employees. They should thus be treated like the Lahore High Court's  employees in accordance with Article 4 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the petitioners stated in their petition.

They had said that special allowance – thrice the initial substantive pay, in addition to judicial and utility allowances – had been allowed to judges in the district judiciary and the Lahore High Court staff.

However, it had not been extended to other employees of the lower courts in the Punjab.

Counsel for the petitioners said that his clients and other staff often dealt with more work than their counterparts at the Lahore High Court. He requested the court to direct the finance ministry to extend judicial allowance to the employees of lower courts.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2014.