LAHORE: The Punjab Standing Committee of Cabinet on Finance and Development has allowed a hefty monthly honorarium of Rs1.2 million for retired Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed to head the Punjab Commission on Irregular Housing Schemes, rejecting the Punjab Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) department’s recommendation of offering honoraria at the rate of (minimum) pay scale MP-I.

Justice Saeed was the member of the bench that heard Panama Papers case and was appointed as head of the Broadsheet Commission by the federal government after his retirement from the Supreme Court in 2019. In the past, he had also served in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as deputy prosecutor general.

Justice Saeed was appointed as a judge of the Lahore High Court in 2004. He served as chief justice of the LHC from 2011 to 2012 till his elevation to the Supreme Court.

The cabinet committee has also rejected the LG&CD department’s recommendation to pay the commission member honoraria at the rate of (minimum) pay scale MP-II and approved to pay each of two members at the flat rate of Rs600,000 per month. It may be mentioned that the finance department had recommended Rs400,000 each for two members.

For co-opted members, the LG&CD department had recommended MP-II pay scale for those from the private sector and Rs100,000 from the public sector. The Punjab government has, however, allowed Rs200,000 honoraria for the co-opted member from the private sector and Rs100,000 for member from the public sector.

The Punjab government has carried forward the LG&CD department’s recommendation of offering Rs100,000 per month honoraria to the commission registrar.

In total, the Punjab government will be spending Rs32.4m on the salary package of the commission chairman, members and registrar.

Following the summary initiated by the LG&CD department, the finance department approved enhanced rates of Rs400,000 per month honoraria for the commission members and kept the honoraria for co-opted members and registrar at the rate of Rs100,000 each per month.

The Standing Committee of Cabinet on Finance and Development had considered the LG&CD department summary and the finance department recommendations in its October 27 meetings, the minutes of which were issued on Monday.

It may be mentioned that the LG&CD department had presented a draft budget proposal amounting to Rs62.39m for the commission based on the proposed rates for honorarium. The department had also mentioned in the summary that the commission would be meant to exist for one-year subject to decision of the government to enhance it for one more year.

The LG&CD department had also explained to the chief minister that it had taken over possession of eight rooms in the Chamba House, on rental basis, allocated by the federal ministry of housing and works.

The chief minister had sent the LG&CD department summary to the Standing Committee of Cabinet on Finance and Development for final recommendation. He would now give his final verdict on the cabinet committee’s recommendations.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2021