July 02, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1429

KARACHI, July 1: Justice Khalid Ali Z. Qazi directed the provincial home and health departments to provide medical treatment to 32 inmates of the Dadu district jail found suffering from Hepatitis B.

The Sindh High Court had initiated proceedings on treatment of prisoners following a report submitted by the Dadu district and sessions judge after his inspection of the district prison that many inmates suffered from Hepatitis and other diseases but there were no facilities available for their regular treatment.

Petitions accepted

The Sindh High Court accepted on Tuesday two writ petitions moved by one of its former judges and an ex-judge of the Federal Shariat Court for grant of pension and other retirement benefits.

Former justice Mrs Majida Rizvi stated through advocate Mushtaq Memon that she served as a high court judge but reached the age of superannuation in 1999 shortly before five years of service. She said she was entitled to pension and other benefits like other judges of the superior courts under a Supreme Court full bench judgment of March 2008. The judgment gave retrospective effect to the President’s Order VIII of December 2007 and extended the benefits allowed by the order to judges retiring even before January 25, 2000. The SC held that denial of the same benefits to judges retiring before the year 2000 would violate the principles of equality and equal protection of law enshrined in the Constitution.

Ex-justice Qazi Abdul Waheed Siddiqui of the Federal Shariat Court submitted through advocate Abdul Hameed Siddiqui that he served for three years as an FSC judge and the SC judgment of March 2008 also covered FSC judges appointed for a specific tenure.

Elaborating the judgment, Deputy Attorney-General Badar Alam said it applied to judges retiring on attaining the age of superannuation. The judgment did not cover judges who relinquished after expiry of their tenure before reaching the age of retirement. Tenure appointment was like contractual appointment, which did not extend pensionary benefits to the appointees.

A division bench comprising Justices Yasmin Abbasy and Bin Yamin allowed both the petitions, observing that the SC judgment was applicable to all superior court irrespective of the duration of their tenure.

Protective bail

Protective bail for three days was granted to former provincial minister Irfan Magsi, Dr Rahila Magsi, taluka nazim Faiz Shaikh and 17 other local government members in the sum of Rs50,000 each.