Division bench suspends remarks against LHC registrar

LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court has suspended single bench’s order to the extent of strictures/observations passed against the incumbent LHC Registrar Ch Humayun Imtiaz.

“Operation of the impugned judgment is suspended to the extent of strictures/observations given against the appellant in paragraph 11 thereof, a two-member bench headed by Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan wrote in its short order while hearing intra-court appeal of the LHC registrar.

Para 11 of March 11 judgment of single bench comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik reads, “Even more alarming is the response of current (LHC) Registrar Chaudhry Humayun Imtiaz who was asked to explain the procedure to be followed especially since he defended the entire process explaining that it can be done under the head of Repair and Maintenance where the total budgeted amount is Rs 60,000/not only the stance of the worthy registrar is totally incorrect but it is also very unfortunate that a main in his position would choose to recklessly defend the wrong practice adopted by the former district and sessions judge, Jhang.

Furthermore he was given an opportunity to explain his response, which opportunity he ignored thereby failing to comply with the order of this court.

The registrar had placed much emphasis on general practice and the fact that the government is willing to pay if the court so orders, however this shows an unfortunate state of affairs where the current Registrar Chaudhry Humayun Imtiaz in an irresponsible manner is taking a stance which is not only against the record but also against the report submitted by previous Registrar and by the District and Sessions judge Jhang Muhammad Azam Saroya.

Public money must be spent cautiously, after following the requirement of law so as to prevent any loss to government exchequer. The fact that the registrar would treat such matters so casually suggests that not only there is a blatant disregard for laws and procedure, but also shows recklessness while spending public money.”

The appellant-registrar pleaded through his counsel Salman Mansoor that while performing his duty as registrar he had merely assisted the single bench and submitted a report based on facts which were in the knowledge of his office.

He said the registrar had not given his own suggestions or opinion to single bench to come to a certain conclusion.

He pointed out that Humayun submitted a report wherein he clearly stated that the work was executed upon verbal directions of the officers concerned of district judiciary and Buildings Department without following the procedure in their own business interest with the understanding that formal approvals and funds would be arranged later on.

He further argued that against this report single bench observed that the registrar had tried to defend the wrong practice adopted by the former District & Sessions Judge, Jhang. After hearing preliminary arguments, the two-member bench suspended the remarks made in Para 11 of impugned judgment and issued notices to respondents for April 4. Single bench in its order had also directed the registrar office to palace the matter before LHC administration committee, headed by chief justice, for necessary action against the judicial officers involved including District & Sessions judge Aziz Ullah Kallue for carrying out repair works without following the required procedure andfor engaging the contractor without observing PPRA rules. However, the division bench did not suspend this portion of the judgment.