IHC suspends plot allotments to judges in new sectors of capital

[muhammadhafeezmalik]

• Justice Minallah says virtually every judicial officer of district courts is beneficiary
• Larger bench to hear issue on Sept 13


ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah on Friday suspended allotment of plots to the capital’s judiciary in sectors F-14 and F-15, observing that this award of land was sheer conflict of interest.


The court also issued a notice to the attorney general and sought an explanation from the Ministry of Housing and Works on the policy of distribution of plots among a few segments of the society. A larger bench has been constituted to hear the matter on Sept 13.


It may be mentioned that the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), during balloting, allotted plots to Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and other judges of the superior judiciary as well as bureaucrats, including Dr Waqar Masood Khan and Dr Shahzad Arbab, who were elevated as special assistants to the prime minister after retiring from government service.


IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah was hearing a petition filed by property owners in villages Thalla Syedan and Jhangi Syedan in Islamabad district against acquisition of their land.


During the hearing of the matter, Justice Minallah remarked: “It has been reported that the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority had recently held a ballot for allotment of plots in F-14 and F-15. The list indicates that virtually every judicial officer of the district courts of Islamabad, who are expected to resolve and adjudicate upon the grievances and rights of the affected land owners, is a beneficiary.”


“It, prima facie, raises serious questions regarding conflict of interest because the plots are given to the beneficiaries at substantially lower prices than the current market rates and thus each beneficiary has financial interest,” he said, adding that, “moreover, astonishingly the list also includes those judicial officers who have been dismissed on account of misconduct or corruption.”


Justice Minallah observed that the judicial officer who was convicted and sentenced by this court, and the conviction was later upheld by the august Supreme Court in the case of a child namely Tayyaba, was also one of the beneficiaries.


Similarly, “the judicial officer who was dismissed on corruption charges in the fake degree [Axact] case is also an allottee,” the IHC chief justice remarked.


As per the record of the FGEHA, three sacked additional district and sessions judges — Pervaizul Qadir Memon, Raja Khurram Ali Khan and Jahangir Awan — were allotted a kanal plot each in F-14 and F-15 while two former civil judges, Adnan Jamali and Amir Khalil, were given plots measuring 14 marlas each in these sectors.


Mr Memon was dismissed from service in Feb 2018 for taking bribe to acquit Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MS Axact Shoaib Sheikh.


Raja Khurram Ali Khan was convicted and terminated from service in Tayyaba torture case while Jahangir Awan was dismissed last year for resorting to firing in the air during a brawl on Constitution Avenue.


Civil Judges Jamali and Khalil were also sacked by the IHC administration.


As per the court’s order, the names of judicial officers who are under observation for alleged incompetence are also among the beneficiaries.


Justice Minallah questioned that how the government could reward a public servant who had been dismissed for corruption or misconduct.


It may be mentioned here that while the judges of the IHC refused FGEHA’s offer of plots, the judges of subordinate judiciary submitted applications and the authority allotted plots to each judge during balloting on Aug 17, 2021.


According to the FGEHA’s list, those who have been allotted one kanal plot under the quota reserved for the federal capital are sessions judges Tanvir Mir, Khalid Mehmood Ranjha, Malik Nazir Ahmed, Khaqan Babar, Mohammad Khalid Nawaz, Mumtaz Hussain, Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi, Sabir Sultan, Nisar Baig, Abdul Qayyum Khan, Sohail Ikram, Iram Niazi, Shiraz Kayani, Sohail Nasir, Aqil Hussan Chohan, Ameer Mohammad Khan, Abdul Jabbar, Mohammad Bashir, Mohammad Nadeem Arshad, Kamran Basharat Mufti, Azam Khan, Atta Rabbani, Raja M. Ajmal Khan, Mohammad Jahangir, Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan, Farah Jamshed, Zeba Chaudhry, Pervaizul Qadir, Wajid Ali, Raja Asif Mehmood, Raja Khurram Ali Khan, Mohammad Adnan, Sikander Khan, Abida Sajjad, Rakhshanda Shaheen, Syed Faizan Haider, Shahrukh Arjumand and Tahir Mehmood.


Among the senior civil judges are Aamir Aziz Khan, Abdul Ghafoor, Qudratullah, Nasruminallah, Mohammad Sohail, Mohammad Inamullah, Humayun Dilawar, Rasool Baksh Mirjat, Mohammad Adnan Jamali, Riwanuddin, M. Abbas, Raja Farrukh Ali Khan, Suhaib Bilal, Aamir Khalil and Mohammad Shabbir. They have been allotted 14 marla plot each under category II of the FGEHA.


As per the court’s orders, allotment of plots to officials of the IHC will also remain suspended.


Interestingly, the FGEHA allotted plots to those officials of the IHC whose appointment has been declared void by the Supreme Court. They include additional registrars Shahzada Islam, Qazi Shakeel and Umer Draz Shakir.


Justice Minallah observed that the IHC as well as the district courts of Islamabad were inundated with litigation against the FGEHA.


The authority has created substantial financial interest of almost every judicial officer of the district judiciary.


Citing the Supreme Court judgement in the case titled ‘Anwar and another v. The Crown’ [PLD 1955 FC 185] which has observed and held that “no judge can be a judge in his own cause.”


Justice Minallah cited another case titled ‘Federation of Pakistan v. Muhammad Akram Shaikh, etc.’ where the apex court has observed and held that “when pecuniary or financial interest of a judge, no matter however small, is likely to be affected as a direct result of the decision in any case, he is ipso facto, disqualified from hearing it…”.


The IHC chief justice observed that “it is obvious that pecuniary interests of the judicial officers are created when he or she, as the case may be, becomes a beneficiary of the extraordinary benefit of getting state land at prices significantly lower than the market prices. The perception of conflict of interest is enough to prejudice the confidence of the litigants in the judicial system.”


Meanwhile, the FGEHA, while responding to a news item published earlier, said: “It started registration under membership drive Phase-II on ‘age-wise seniority basis’ for federal government employees and other specified groups in April 2015 as per approved quota policy and eligibility criteria of the scheme.”


Almost 80,000 members got registered, including government servants from BS-1 to BS-22 as well as judges of superior/lower judiciary till May 2016, the FGEHA said, adding that the allottees whose names were included in balloting of plots for sectors F-14/15 were issued consent letters in 2016 whereas balloting was conducted to allocate them plot numbers only.


The housing authority further said that 1,704 allottees of F-14/15 of category-1 (BS-20 to BS-22) including judges, who fulfilled the approved policy of FGEHA, were allotted plots through random computerised balloting on 17-08-2021 in a transparent manner whereas 1,690 allottees of category-2 (BS-18 to BS-19) and 1,329 allottees in category-3 (BS-16 to BS-17) were also allotted plots.


All allotments have been made as per approved laid down criteria/policy of the FGEHA and the balloting has been conducted for allocation of plot numbers to bona-fide allottees under transparent computerised balloting, the housing authority said.

IHC suspends plot allotments to judges in new sectors of capital

Justice Minallah says virtually every judicial officer of district courts of Islamabad is a beneficiary.

www.dawn.com

 

[ghazi52]

400 bureaucrats get extra plots worth Rs25 bn in capital


Zahid Gishkori
Saturday, Aug 21, 2021

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 400 top civil servants got an extra prime government plot each, collectively worth Rs25 billion in the heart of the federal capital in the past 15 years.

These extra plush plots were allotted to some senior civil servants (BS-22) under a ‘Contentious’ policy, approved by the previous governments, according to official details exclusively obtained by this correspondent on Friday.

The market value of these plots, measuring 500 square yards each, was around Rs25 billion, while these officers including judges, federal secretaries, director generals, heads of different autonomous bodies, senior civil servants, only paid Rs1.6 billion collectively to acquire the extra government plots.

Out of those civil servants, of whom almost 80% had already been superannuated, had received an additional piece of land (1 kanal) each under the 'contentious' scheme, which had been either suspended, stopped or scrapped from time to time in previous regimes of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) since 2006.

“In view of the current government’s policy of introducing incentives for senior civil servants, the government should review its policy of providing an additional plot to officers of BS-22,” wrote Younis Dhaga, the then secretary in-charge for Housing and Works, in a special summary, sent to then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on July 10, 2014.

But the then PM, in May 2015, revived policy for one extra plot for BS-22 officers, suspending his own directions to stop that perquisite, official record showed.

Close to three dozen senior most civil servants, many of them retired now, collectively got more than four plots each from the Police Foundation, Capital Development Authority and the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) during that period, revealed the record.

More than 34 officers (BS-22), all of them retired, could not get this extra one-kanal plot under that scheme and some of them went to the court, challenging true spirit of the scheme which was questioned by the federal cabinet in 2014 and then by Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Supreme Court's judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa last year.

Those most expensive extra plots were given to civil servants in sectors E-7, E-11, G-11, D-12, F-14, F-15 and other sectors of Islamabad, showed the official record. The Public Accounts Committee, a highest accountability forum of the elected representatives, has termed it a controversial policy and recommended abolition of the allocation of plots to judges, generals, bureaucrats, journalists and others at throwaway prices.

Over 40 superior courts judges, including four former chief justices, five DGs of FIA, six principal secretaries, 17 chief secretaries of provinces, 16 interior secretaries, 11 establishment secretaries, 18 cabinet secretaries, 10 chairmen of FBR, 17 inspectors general of police, 11 CDA chairmen, four Supreme Court registrars, seven secretaries to the president and many other secretaries got one extra plot each in Islamabad during that period. Wives of around a dozen senior civil servants (BS-22), who were also senior officers, got one extra plot each in these sectors during that period accordingly.

In the latest bid (allotment occurred recently), more than two dozen secretaries got one extra choice piece of land in sector F-14 and F-15 by paying a nominal price of Rs5 million to Rs7 million each for those plots which have a market value of between Rs40 million to Rs60 million each, depending upon their location.

Official documents revealed that the law ministry, in its findings, termed allotment of plots to government officials and others illegal in 2013. In its summary to the FGEHF, the ministry recommended that the practice of blue-eyed officers must be banished and buried forever.

The difference between the market value of the plot and the concessional value determined for allotment is a taxable perquisite but none of the civil servants offered that value for taxing. So that apparently unlawfully becomes a tax-free prerequisite due to FBR’s failure to enforce tax laws upon the bureaucrats, a senior tax official said.

 

[El Sidd]

During the hearing of the matter, Justice Minallah remarked: “It has been reported that the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority had recently held a ballot for allotment of plots in F-14 and F-15. The list indicates that virtually every judicial officer of the district courts of Islamabad, who are expected to resolve and adjudicate upon the grievances and rights of the affected land owners, is a beneficiary.”


“It, prima facie, raises serious questions regarding conflict of interest because the plots are given to the beneficiaries at substantially lower prices than the current market rates and thus each beneficiary has financial interest,” he said, adding that, “moreover, astonishingly the list also includes those judicial officers who have been dismissed on account of misconduct or corruption.”

The operative word you are looking for Mr. Justice is corruption.

 

[ghazi52]

IHC suspends plot allotments in Islamabad to judges, bureaucrats


Tahir Naseer
September 13, 2021

A two-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, was hearing a petition filed by property owners in villages Thalla Syedan and Jhangi Syedan in Islamabad district against the acquisition of their land. — AFP/File

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the allotment of plots to judges, bureaucrats and government employees in the capital's F-14 and F-15 sectors .

A two-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, was hearing a petition filed by property owners in villages Thalla Syedan and Jhangi Syedan in Islamabad district against the acquisition of their land.

The chief justice said people from whom the land had been acquired would not be affected by the stay order as they had already been allotted alternate plots.

The estate director, law director and deputy commissioner of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) — which had allotted the plots after balloting — appeared in the court during the hearing today.

The deputy commissioner informed the court that the federal cabinet had formed a committee to look into the matter and present its report to the cabinet.

Upon this, Justice Minallah observed that the court had asked the federal government to explain its policy on the matter. "How did you jump over the people expecting [to be allotted plots] and give them to others?" he questioned.

The court was not talking about the affectees but the 31-32,000 members of the federal government who were awaiting plots, he added.

The deputy commissioner answered that plots were also allotted to the judiciary, journalists, lawyers and people from other organisations based on the quota system.

"What is the fault of labourers? Why are they not given plots?" questioned the chief justice.

He further asked about the number of members who had not been allotted plots in Islamabad's sectors F-14 and F-15.

"There must be a waiting list. What was the policy? You have also allotted plots to judges who were sacked because of corruption. Is it the policy to encourage corruption?" he asked.

Justice Minallah observed that the federal government has to make a policy on how state land would be distributed, adding that it would have to solve the problem through the report submitted to it by the committee.

The deputy commissioner informed the court that the government was ready to compensate the affectees but they were "not cooperating".

Justice Minallah remarked that the government's policy should be to allot plots only to those who did not have homes of their own and prevent them from selling them afterwards.

He again observed, "You also allotted plots to convicted and fired judges."

The counsel for the FGEHA argued that the judges must have been employed when they filled out the application for the allotment of plots.

He informed the court that nobody had been issued a final allotment letter yet, which would only be issued after approval from the relevant department.

Upon this, the chief justice remarked that the policy has to be decided by the federal government which would also look at all the issues.

Meanwhile, the IHC issued notice to the attorney general, directing him to appear in the next hearing on October 14.


Suspension of allotments to judiciary

Last month, the IHC chief justice had suspended the allotment of plots to the capital's judiciary in sectors F-14 and F-15, observing that the award of land was a sheer conflict of interest.

The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority, during balloting, had allotted plots to Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and other judges of the superior judiciary as well as bureaucrats, including Dr Waqar Masood Khan and Dr Shahzad Arbab, who were elevated as special assistants to the prime minister after retiring from government service.

As per the record of the FGEHA, three sacked additional district and sessions judges — Pervaizul Qadir Memon, Raja Khurram Ali Khan and Jahangir Awan — were allotted a kanal plot each in F-14 and F-15 while two former civil judges, Adnan Jamali and Amir Khalil, were given plots measuring 14 marlas each in these sectors.


The names of judicial officers who are under observation for alleged incompetence are also among the beneficiaries.