ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: The chief justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) has applied for the allotment of a plot in the posh sector of I-8/2 in Islamabad and a request in this regard has been sent to the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The fate of the request is unclear as CDA sources claimed that the authority had declined it.

However, a CDA spokesman insisted that the chairman still had the final say in this matter.

Sources said that IHC Registrar Meeran Jan Kakar on October 4, 2013, sent the request (vide letter no 8929/Reg/IHC/2013) to the chairman CDA.

In the letter, Mr Kakar also identified a vacant plot in the said sector. “A plot, No 487, street No 34, I-8/2 near Masjid Aqsa Islamabad owned by CDA, lying vacant may kindly be allotted in the name of Hon’ble Chief Justice Islamabad High Court,” said the letter.

It added that the IHC started functioning with effect from January 3, 2011, and “after its establishment Hon’ble Chief Justice with other functionaries has started their judicial work.

It is worth mentioning that no residential arrangement has so far been made by the government and the Hon’ble Chief Justice is residing in a privately hired rest house.”

The CDA sources told Dawn that the request seeking the plot for IHC CJ was not routed through an appropriate forum.

They said the civic agency could not allot a plot to any individual as under the CDA ordinance the authority could make allotments of plots to its employees only.

The allotment of plots or houses to individuals is the job of the ministry of housing and works, they explained.

The sources said plot allotment was not the CDA job as under the rules the civic agency could dispose of its land through an open auction or balloting at the time of announcement of a new sector.

According to them, the CDA should refer the matter to the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) for the allotment of the plot to the IHC chief justice.

They said it seemed illogical why the CDA had kept the matter for about one-and-a-half months.

Malik Zafar Abbas, the director general of the FGEHF, told Dawn that judges cannot apply to the CDA for the allotment of plots as it was the domain of the foundation.

He said the FGEHF determined the eligibility of an applicant in accordance with their seniority, age and the date of retirement and after a fair balloting made the allotment in a residential sector anywhere in the city.

The applicant cannot insist on the allotment of a specific plot, he added.

“A judge can neither directly apply to the CDA for a plot nor the latter can make any direct allotment,” he pointed out.

IHC Registrar Meeran Jan Kakar, when approached for comments, claimed that the document might be forged, adding this information was being spread to malign the judiciary.

CDA spokesman Mohammad Asim Khichi admitted the receipt of the request.

He, however, clarified that the IHC registrar had sent a request for the allotment of a plot for the official residence of the chief justice.

When reminded that the IHC registrar in the request had sought the allotment of a plot in the name of the chief justice, Mr Khichi replied that there might be some problem in the language of the letter.

He, however, expressed ignorance when informed that the CDA had already allotted 10 acres to the IHC administration in the Diplomatic Enclave for the official residence of the IHC chief justice and other judges.

When contacted, IHC additional registrar Shahzada Mohammad Aslam confirmed that the CDA had allotted 10 acres for the IHC judges’ colony in the Diplomatic Enclave.

He said the Public Works Department (PWD) would forward the PC-1 of the project to the law ministry and after the approval it would be submitted to the finance ministry for release of the funds.