KDA told to explain legal basis for transferring 98 staffers to MDA

The Supreme Court directed the director general of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) on Thursday to explain under which law 98 employees of his department were transferred to the Malir Development Authority (MDA).
The directives were issued during a hearing of a petition of the employees against the KDA’s refusal to allow their repatriation. A two-member bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, inquired the director general of the KDA under which law the KDA employees were transferred to the MDA and why their salaries of the past several months had not been released.
The court directed the directors general of the KDA and the MDA to submit explanations and details of the employees’ service on November 28. The petitioners submitted that the KDA had transferred two schemes to the MDA along with staffers. Now, they said, the MDA wanted to send them back, but the KDA was not willing to accept them.
The complained that they had not been paid their salaries of the last several months, and several other KDA and MDA officers were still working on a deputation basis. The apex court observed that lower-grade employees were given higher posts in other departments on a deputation basis, and directed the KDA and the MDA to submit reports with regard to the repatriation of the KDA employees.
Rauf’s plea rejected
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) rejected Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Rauf Siddiqui’s application seeking travel permission to perform Umrah.
Siddiqui, who is also a former provincial minister, has been standing trial over charges of facilitating outlaws by providing them medical treatment at two hospitals owned by Dr Asim Hussain. Also facing the same charges are Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar, Anis Qimkhani, Saleem Shehzad, Qadir Patel, Usman Moazzam, Dr Asim Hussain and others.
Siddiqui had asked the court to exempt him from appearances for a month as he had a plan to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. He further stated that he had submitted his passport and deposited a surety amount of Rs2 million to the trial court. The court however rejected the plea, saying that it was not justified to get permission after every two months to perform Umrah.