ISLAMABAD: Fearing contempt of court proceedings, the Ministry of Housing and Works not only withdrew a notification that took away the entitlement of judges of Islamabad’s subordinate judiciary to government houses but is also amending the rules to extend the facility of Estate Office (EO)’s residences to the constitutional courts.

The EO had issued the notification on March 28 making the judicial officers ineligible for official residences on the pool of the EO.

However, 33 judges of the local judiciary - three district and sessions judges, nine additional district and sessions judges, four senior civil judges and 17 civil judges - challenged the notification in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Housing ministry amending rules to extend Estate Office’s residences to Islamabad’s constitutional courts

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC on April 17 issued a stay order terming the matter a “contemptuous act” of the Ministry of Housing and Works.

The court also sought reply from the minister, secretary housing and works along with the estate officer and a section officer (policy) in the ministry.

The court order led the ministry to revise its decision and Miraj Mohammad Khan, the section officer (policy) who had withdrawn the entitlement of the judges on April 20, issued another notification stating: “the notification of even number dated March 28, 2018, is hereby withdrawn ab-initio.”

In the March 28 notification, the housing ministry, in fact, had discarded an earlier letter issued in March 2008 that enabled the judicial officers to retain official residences from the EO pool.

The notification said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by rule 28 of the Accommodation, Allocation Rules 2002, the Federal Government, Ministry of Housing and Works, is pleased to state that proposal to amend Accommodation, Allocation Rules 2002 is under process including the eligibility criteria under Rule 3(1) of Rules.”

A senior official of the housing ministry told Dawn that the competent authority had principally decided to amend the rules to accommodate the judiciary.

He said the March 28 notification was issued erroneously and had been withdrawn.

Under the rules, officials working in the constitutional bodies are ineligible to get government houses.

This issue was also highlighted in 2015 when about 50 officials of the IHC and the subordinate judiciary were allotted houses from the EO pool.

As per the rules, only employees working in the ministries and departments of the federal government are entitled to official residences.

For decades, senior civil servants and other officials of the federal government have been waiting for the allotment of residences.

However, after a number of IHC officials applied for the residences on the EO pool, the housing ministry sought an advice from the Ministry of Law and Justice and the latter ruled that the IHC staff was not entitled to get houses from the EO pool.

The law ministry advice dated June 1, 2015, asserted that the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment on the allotment of government houses in 2012 had directed that the allotment could only be made in accordance with the general waiting list (GWL).

The GWL comprises government employees who applied for the official residences decades ago and are still waiting for their turn.

The apex court passed the verdict on a petition filed by Mohammad Afsar against the ‘out-of-turn’ allotments of government houses.

The law ministry’s advice stated that the decision of the apex court on the observance of the GWL was binding on all the courts, including the IHC.

As per the advice, IHC’s officials were not entitled to have official residences and in case it is desired to make the employees of the IHC eligible for the accommodation from the Estate Office, necessary amendments will have to be made to sub-rule 1 of rule 3.

The judicial officers in the petition maintained that in March 2008 the EO had issued a notification related to the entitlement of the subordinate judiciary to the official residences.

The petition said the judicial officers joined the sessions courts in accordance with the Islamabad Judicial Service Rules 2011 and were then allotted official accommodations.

Since then, their house rent was being adjusted as rent for these accommodations whereas they were paying certain amount for repair and maintenance of the houses.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2018