LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday directed the Punjab government to also include employees of the court’s establishment in the policy on house hiring/alternate house ceiling allowance, if an official residence is not allotted.

Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi was hearing a petition moved by the LHC Deputy Registrar Muhammad Akmal Khan, challenging unavailability of house hiring/house ceiling facility for the court employees.

During the hearing, additional chief secretary was also present as being summoned by the court.

Justice Qureshi snubbed the secretary asking him whether the LHC employees were orphans as they were ignored in the house requisition policy.

The judge directed the secretary to also apply the policy on the employees of the court or he would strike down the whole policy. The judge gave 10 days to the government for completing the assignment.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel pleaded that in 1997 the government framed a new policy on official residences for the employees of civil secretariat, the Punjab Assembly and the high court.

However, he said, the government later introduced house hiring or alternate house ceiling facility allowance to the employees of the secretariat only while employees of the LHC were totally ignored.

The petitioner said he applied for a government residence in year 2000 but no such accommodation had been given to him or any other employee so far.

He stated that the non-inclusion of LHC employees in the house hiring facility was an unlawful act of the government that should be reviewed. Therefore, the petitioner asked the court to order the government to also implement the policy on the high court employees as per their entitlement.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2018