SUKKUR: Sindh High Court’s Sukkur bench comprising Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar and Justice Faheem Ahmed Siddiqui on Tuesday ordered suspension of salary disbursement to the Sindh chief minister, his cabinet members, chief secretary, and secretaries of finance and agriculture departments for not complying with its order regarding release of pension to retired employees of Khairpur market committee.

The bench was seized with a petition filed by Ghulam Shabbir Mallah stating that he and his other colleagues had not been receiving pension since their retirement in 2018.

In the previous hearing of the case, the bench had issued directives to the respondents to release their pension.

On Tuesday, the director general of agriculture department submitted in court that the order could not be complied with because the required funds were not provided to his department.

Expressing its displeasure over Sindh government’s act of disregarding the court order, the bench ordered that the salaries of all the respondents be stopped until the order was complied with. The bench ordered the respondents to release pension to the aggrieved retired employees by May 11, when further hearing of the petition would be held, or face stricter action.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2021