PHC notifies KP govt in petition about staff shortage

KP Services Tribunal

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday issued notice to the provincial government in a writ petition seeking increase in number of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Services Tribunal members as thousands of appeals are pending against various departments.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Nisar Hussain Khan and Justice Syed Afsar Shah issued the notice to the government through Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department and chairman of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Services Tribunal. They were directed to submit reply in the petition.

The bench also asked advocate general to assist the court in the petition.Mukhtiar Ahmad Maneri, who has filed the petition, submitted that more than 5,000 appeals against the decisions of departments related to service matters of government employees and others had been pending in the Services Tribunal for years.

He said presently the government had appointed four members, including a chairman for the Service Tribunal. He said the current strength of the members is not enough. He argued that appeals in the tribunal were increasing day by day while the members of the tribunal also had to establish camp courts in other districts of the province and thus the appellants were suffering due to delay in justice.

A few weeks ago, Peshawar High Court (PHC) Bar Association President Fida Gul had also raised the issue with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. He had demanded the chief minister to increase the number of members of the Services Tribunal.

Separately, another division bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Irshad Qaiser ordered un-sealing of three commercial plazas of Auqaf Department. These were sealed by the Excise and Taxation Department for not paying property tax to the department. The court also issued notice to director general Excise and Taxation and Auqaf Department to submit reply before April 26, next hearing in the case.

The three leaseholders of the plazas, Muhammad Umar, Alif Khan and Khurshid, had challenged sealing of the plazas including Sona Tower, Zain Plaza and Golden Tower by the Excise and Taxation Department.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Nasar Minallah, submitted before the bench that the petitioners had obtained the commercial plazas on rent from the Auqaf Department. He said that on March 22, the Excise Department sealed the plazas with a claim that despite notice the property tax had not been paid by the Auqaf Department.