Awaiting govt aid: Joseph Colony case adjourned

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday adjourned till December 9 the hearing of petitions about non-payment of compensation to victims of the Joseph Colony arson attacks that occurred on March 9, 2013. The court had earlier sought a report from federal government about the progress in payment of compensation to the affected families. On Wednesday, the counsel for the federal government did not appear. Zaman Masih and other petitioners, say that 30 out of 190 affected families were still awaiting the Rs500,000 each compensation announced by the then president. At an earlier hearing, the state counsel had said that Finance Ministry had not provided the required funds to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. He had said that the compensation would be distributed among the affected families as soon as the funds were released.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2014.