Senate resolution over ex-CJP’s perks dropped

Raja Zafar assures house govt pursuing the matter in court

ISLAMABAD: The upper house of parliament on Tuesday turned down a resolution asking former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to surrender a 6,000cc bulletproof vehicle, on the grounds that the matter was pending in court.

Senator Farhatullah Babar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had moved the resolution.

The resolution was also signed by Awami National Party’s (ANP) Haji Adeel, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) Haji Ghulam Ali, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Col (retd) Tahir Mashhadi, Hidayatullah from Fata and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s (PkMAP) Abdul Rauf.

However, Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq pointed out that the vehicle was given in line with the order of Islamabad High Court and that the government had filed an appeal against the decision.

“The resolution should not be adopted as the matter is sub judice,” Haq said as he assured the house that the government is pursuing the matter in the court. Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan, who also belongs to the PPP, endorsed the government’s views.

However, ANP’s Haji Adeel said the resolution should be deferred till the decision of the case. The resolution said: “This House expresses serious concern that a former CJP is availing fringe benefits over and above those admissible under the rules… “This House, therefore, calls for a review of the discriminatory decision of allowing additional perks to the former CJP and for taking appropriate steps to withdraw the same from him and recover the amount spent on it from the beneficiary,” it said.

The resolution also demanded that the house summon the former CJP before the appropriate committee of the house to explain the reasons for availing ‘discriminatory benefits’.

Defending his resolution, Senator Babar said the government should have either challenged the court order or amended the rules to provide additional perks to the ex-CJP to comply with the court orders.

“But it failed to do so, resulting in discrimination in awarding additional perks to only one CJP among several retired chief justices,” he said.

Babar also criticised justice (retd) Chaudhry, saying he should have voluntarily given up the additional perks, including a bulletproof car, for the sake of his own dignity and the prestige of the institution of Judiciary after the matter was taken up in parliament.

“It is unfortunate that on the one hand the former CJP stubbornly sticks to extra perks and on the other hand the government fails to amend the relevant laws to create a non-discriminatory regime,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.