Retired major general moves LHC for contempt

RAWALPINDI: A former major general of Pakistan Army has submitted a contempt of court petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on the plea that his petition against depriving him of all his service benefits has been pending since February 16, 2015 and the Ministry of Defence has still not submitted comments on it.

An LHC bench on May 24, 2016 heard this petition and issued notices to the respondents for Sept 21, 2016 seeking their reply but after a passage of four months, still no reply has been submitted by the ministry.

The petitioner has prayed to the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the respondents. He has cited Secretary Ministry of Defence Lt Gen (retd) Zamir-ul-Hassan and Adjutant General of Pakistan Army Lt Gen Anwar Ali Haider as respondents.  In the main petition, the petitioner had alleged that the former military dictator Gen (R) Pervez Musharraf in a vindictive move deprived him of all his service benefits by canceling allotment of 50 acre land in Bahawalnagar, a plot in DHA Karachi and another plot in DHA Rawalpindi.

Maj Gen (R) Ahsan Ahmed through his counsel Col (R) Inam-Ul-Rahiem advocate has contended that Musharraf did all this as the petitioner refused to assist him inrigging in the elections of October 2002.

The petitioner has adopted that he got commission in the Medical Corps of in 1965 and after rendering 34 years of service, retired on September 13, 1999. As service benefits on April 17, 1999 he was allotted 50 acres agricultural land under Settlement Scheme in District Bahawalnagar. Further he was allotted a plot in DHA Rawalpindi and as per rules the petitioner was allotted a plot at Askari Villas, Zam Zama, Clifton, Karachi on December 13, 2002. The petitioner made full payments for all these provision and became legal owner of the properties.

That during June 2000, the petitioner was chosen into Sindh Government as Minister of Health and Population Welfare and he was awarded the presidential shield for best performance on July 11, 2002.

Differences of the petitioner arose with former President Gen Pervez Musharraf when the petitioner opposed the idea of referendum in the cabinet during 2002.

That gulf further widened when election schedule of October 2002 was announced and the government of Pervez Musharraf planned large scale rigging. He pressurised the petitioner through the then Governor of Sindh and operative of secret agencies to relocate the officials of Health and Population Planning for so-called management of election which the petitioner outright declined. After this all the property allotted to him was cancelled. In the main petition, petitioner has prayed to the court to issue directions for the retrieval of all his confiscated property.