October 31, 2008	Friday	Ziqa'ad 1, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 30: The Sindh High Court ordered within 15 days payment of all remunerations due to an accounts official whose salary had been withheld since July 2007.

Petitioner Zulfiqar Haider Jafri, accounts superintendent, National Institute of Management, submitted through Advocate Mushaffay Ahmad that he proceeded on leave duly sanctioned early in 2007. He resumed his duty on the expiry of leave and was sent on training. A show-cause notice was, however, issued to him in July 2007 after the conclusion of the training course. He was denied posting after the issuance of the notice and his salary was stopped. He requested the court to order payment of his stuck-up dues.

A division bench comprising Justices Khilji Arif Hussain and Dr Qamaruddin Bohra observed that while the institute could proceed against him for any indiscipline or irregularity, his salary could not be withheld pending the proceedings. It asked the respondents to release and pay the petitioner’s dues within 15 days.

Sessi restrained

The bench, meanwhile, restrained the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (Sessi) from appointing any person in place of Dr Hasan Khurshid, chest physician, Kulsoom Bai Valika Social Security Hospital, till the final disposal of his petition against his removal from service.

The petitioner doctor submitted through Advocate Islam Hussain that he had put in 23 years’ service as senior registrar and chest physician in the Sessi hospital as chest specialist when the notice of termination was issued in July 2008 despite a policy decision by the institution’s governing body that services of all employees who had worked for three months would be regularised. Earlier, he was denied promotion and upgrade of his post to grade 19 in contravention of his vested right and he served in the same grade (grade 18) for decades.

He said the hospital and Sessi authorities had acted arbitrarily and discriminated against him. While his representation against his dismissal was pending and he was assured sympathetic consideration by the authorities, the vacancy created by termination of his services was advertised. Directing that notices be issued to the respondents, the bench restrained them from filling the vacancy till the disposal of the petition.

Notice to livestock secretary

Justice Gulzar Ahmed, meanwhile, issued notices to the provincial livestock secretary and a revenue official of Korangi Town to appear along with record on Nov 20 and answer allegations by a plaintiff that the land allotted to her was sold to another person by livestock, revenue and police officials.

Ayesha Mazahir claimed that 80 acres were allotted to her at Deh Phihai, District East, Karachi, but was sold to another person by forgery in 1991. She said if any differential amount was owed by her, a demand notice should have been issued to her instead of the allotment being cancelled surreptitiously and the land disposed of by a bogus sale transaction.

Oil & gas prices

Another division bench comprising Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Khwaja Naveed Ahmed granted an application moved by Advocate Shaukat Ali Shaikh for urgent hearing of his petition for immediate reduction of oil and gas prices following the steep decline of petroleum prices in the international market.

The lawyer submitted on behalf of his NGO that the government had promised while fixing the oil and gas prices at Rs81.75 per litre and Rs44 per kilogram, respectively, that the rates would be lowered as soon as the prices fall in the world market. Now that the prices had come down, the oil and CNG prices should be re-fixed at Rs45 per litre and Rs32 per kilogram, respectively.

Granting the urgency plea, the bench decided to hear the lawyer’s arguments on the maintainability of his petition on Nov 13.

Power supply resumption

In Advocate Ghulam Qadir Jatoi’s plea for restoration of the electricity connections at Tahir Plaza, the bench asked Advocate-General M. Yusuf Leghari to hold an inquiry into the spending of a grant of Rs3.5 million announced by the provincial government for the lawyers affected by the April 9 mayhem.

Advocate Jatoi said the lawyers who had their offices in the plaza were being asked to pay a hefty amount for restoration of electricity connections. He said grants for the affected lawyers were announced immediately after April 9 but no work had been undertaken to repair the damage done to the lawyers’ chambers.

Refund ordered

Another bench ordered refund of Rs5.5 million deposited by an importer with the nazir of the court pending hearing of his petition against allegedly assessment of import duty on fine sofa cloth.

The petitioner submitted through Advocate Nisar A. Mujahid that the duty was arbitrarily calculated by the customs officials concerned. The bench asked the petitioner to approach the customs collector for appeals within a month. The collector would decide the appeal within a month. Dec 18 was fixed as the next date of hearing.