IHC nixes plots allotment to govt officers, judges

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday declared the allotment of plots to government officers and judges in housing schemes as illegal, stating that it was against public interest.

The court directed the Secretary Housing to present the matter pertaining to the capital's sectors including F-12, G-12, F-14 and F-15 before the federal cabinet, which, it expected, would prepare a policy keeping in view public interest. It further said that the government’s land was not for the elite class, instead it was only for public welfare.

The two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani, in its verdict on an intra-court appeal of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), observed that the judges, government officers and public office holders could not develop any policy against public interest for their personal benefits.

The FGEHA also couldn’t introduce any scheme against the law, it added. The court also raised concern over making the judges of the top court, high court and district court beneficiaries of the scheme.

The high court and district courts did not ever extend any request to be part of any housing scheme, it added. The IHC observed that even the retired judges and those who had been facing disciplinary actions on misconduct were also given plots.

The court also stated that the balloting for the plots dated August 17, 2021 was also not transparent. Some 126,000 government employees, out of 135,000, had been ignored while the cabinet was kept in the dark about the selection process for the allotment, it added. The court further expressed concern over excluding journalists and lawyers by the FGEHA in the reviewed policy.