SHC wants KMC assets sold to pay dues of retired employees

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday said that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) liability towards the payment of pension and outstanding dues is Rs4.25 billion, so the only option left is to sell the KMC’s assets, including its beach huts, to settle the legitimate dues of the retired employees.

The court directed the KMC administrator to identify at least 25 properties to be sold first. The order came on the petitions of retired KMC employees with regard to the payment of their outstanding pension.

The provincial law officer filed a statement saying that in accordance with the court’s directives, meetings of the relevant committee were held and it was proposed that a special grant-in-aid of Rs430 million a month be given to the KMC and then increased to Rs600 million a month from November towards partial satisfaction of the post-retirement benefits of the retired employees.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar said that the court had constituted the committee comprising Sindh’s chief secretary and local government secretary as well as others to explore the possibilities of resolving the long-standing issue of the payment of pension to the retired KMC employees.

The bench said that in addition to the above-mentioned monthly grant-in-aid, the committee should submit to the court in relation to a one-time grant to the KMC for the settlement of the subject liability.

The KMC law officer submitted a list of immoveable properties that showed that bungalow and flats in the upmarket areas of the city are in possession of the municipal body’s officers.

The court directed the law officer to forward the list of such properties to the local government secretary to verify if these properties belong to the KMC and then submit the verification report in court.

The bench was informed that apart from such properties, as many as 250 beach huts situated at Hawkesbay are owned by the KMC. The counsel said that the leases of all such huts have been cancelled, while some of the lessees have resorted to legal proceedings.

The SHC said that it has been admitted by the KMC that it was liable to pay an amount of Rs4.25 billion to its retired employees, so such a liability cannot be settled by the monthly grant-in-aid given by the government or a one-time grant that may be given by the Sindh government.

The court said that the only option left is to sell the assets of the KMC, including the beach huts, so that the legitimate dues of its retired employees can be settled.

The bench said that before passing any order in this regard, the KMC administrator must first identify 25 properties from the list submitted in court so that they may be sold first. The SHC issued the administrator a notice to submit a compliance report by December 22.

KDA retirees

In another case pertaining to the payment of outstanding dues of over 1,000 retired employees of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), the court directed the finance secretary and others to finalise the strategy for using funds, including the amount to be realised by liquidating the KDA’s investment and selling its properties, to settle the dues.

The chief secretary said in his comments that the chief minister has approved the summary of a one-time special grant or bailout package to settle the post-retirement liabilities of KDA employees.

The local government secretary said the government has approved Rs500 million for a one-time grant or bailout package. Both officials requested the court to direct the KDA to follow the recommendations issued by the Sindh government after receiving the bailout package. The government’s counsel sought time to finalise the strategy for using funds to settle the dues, following which the bench ordered filing the same by December 17.