LAHORE, Sept 12: The Lahore High Court on Friday heard a review petition against provision of luxuries to public functionaries.

Pakistan Lawyers Forum president A.K. Dogar had filed the petition against the verdict of a division bench that dismissed his plea against the luxurious lifestyle of high-ranking government and army officials.

The division bench had dismissed the petition, ruling that lifestyle was based on personal perceptions. No constitutional or legal question was raised in the petition and the court did not have the jurisdiction to issue any direction to the state in this regard. According to the division bench, the petition concerned social values, which the court was not the proper platform to decide.

While assailing this verdict, Mr Dogar argued that his petition did not concern social values only. He had sought socio-economic justice for all citizens. To live according to his or her aspirations was the fundamental right of every citizen as observed by the Supreme Court in the Benazir Bhutto case, and discrimination could not be allowed under official patronage, he submitted.

According to the petitioner, the government was misusing the public exchequer by providing palatial houses, large number of servants and other privileges to its high-rank officials. He alleged that all these functionaries were living a luxurious life at the expense of public exchequer, which was un-Islamic. He claimed that Islam did not permit provision of palatial houses to holders of public officer, and this luxurious way of life was causing frustration in society.

He claimed that it had appeared in a newspaper that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was allotted 400 kanals of agriculture land at Nouabad, Bahawalpur, at the rate of Rs47 per kanal against the prevalent market price of Rs20,000 per kanal.

As much as 35,000-kanal land in Bahawalpur had been distributed among 10 generals, nine lieutenant-generals, 16 major-generals, one admiral, one air-marshal, 18 brigadiers, three colonels and 47 non-commissioned officers of the Army.

He pleaded that the state should ban the provision of palatial accommodation to its public functionaries as well as lavish furnishing of their offices since this way of life was beyond state’s economic viability.

The full bench, headed by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani, would hear the petitioner at length on Sept 29.