ISLAMABAD, May 13: The Estate Office has sought legal opinion from the law ministry whether it can allot official accommodation to over 300 special persons working in different government departments even after a ban imposed by the Supreme Court on out-of-turn allotments.

Sources in the Estate Office, a department of the Ministry of Housing and Works, told Dawn on Sunday that more than 300 special people had been waiting for official accommodation for the last many years.

Though there is a provision to allot houses to the special employees under the hardship quota, the Estate Office is said to be in a fix whether it can still accommodate the special persons after the directive of the apex court.

“We have written a letter to the law ministry seeking legal advice whether we still can allot houses to the special employees under the hardship quota,” Estate Officer Asim Ayub told Dawn on Sunday.

He said one month after the October 2011 order of the apex court, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Housing Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat had withdrawn their discretionary powers and thus no-out-of turn allotment could be made.

“As a result, the hardship committee of the EO, which used to decide cases of special people, has become redundant,” the official maintained.

When asked why the EO did not file an appeal with the apex court, he said the time for appeal had lapsed two months after the ruling.

According to the previous practice, the hardship committee heard cases of special people and sent its recommendations to the minister who then allotted them official quarters using his discretionary powers.

Nazir Ahmed, an employee of Public Works Department (PWD) who lost his one hand in an accident, told Dawn that he had been waiting for his turn to get an official house for the last five years. He said he could have been allocated an accommodation had the hardship committee not become redundant.He said many other special employees had contacted the EO for official accommodation but they were refused. “We were asked to better file a writ petition with the Supreme Court,” he said.

Another official of the EO, who did not want to be named, said the special employees could only be allocated official quarters if the Supreme Court reviewed its decision and issued special order for them.