ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan Tuesday sought from the federal government new policy for the allotment of plots to the employees.
A three-member special bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial conducted hearing of two petitions which were filed by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) against the Islamabad High Court orders dated August 20, 2021, and September 13, 2021.
It was September 13, 2021 when the IHC had suspended allotment of 4,723 plots in Islamabad’s two new sectors, including 1,704 plots, measuring one kanal each, allotted to senior bureaucrats and top judges, by a federal government housing authority in August, 2022.
During the hearing, Advocate Akram Sheikh, representing the FGEHA, argued that according to IHC the judges after obtaining plots do not remain impartial and due to the plot allotment process the whole judiciary would be destroyed.
Justice Bandial inquired from Akram Sheikh that is it your stance that the IHC by taking suo moto of the matter had passed the orders. The counsel contended that the IHC orders became newspapers headlines that judges are the beneficiaries of balloting in Islamabad sectors. He said that the IHC should not have raised fingers to the dignity of the superior judiciary, adding the IHC chief justice should have been careful.
Justice Bandial remarked that the IHC orders mentioned the district judiciary. He asked the lawyer that through your arguments it seems that media has presented the orders in a way to show that whole judiciary is beneficiary of the plots’ allotment. The judge said that the judges speak through their judgments and judiciary is fulfilling its responsibility.
Akram Sheikh said that due to the IHC orders the FGEHA has become non-functional. Justice Mansoor said that when the government has framed new policy then what is the problem. Justice Bandial asked the counsel to file all documents related to the case.
Later, the bench deferred the hearing for an indefinite period in this matter.