A bureaucrat who says no to govt plot in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: In a rare development, Dr Syed Tauqir Shah, secretary to the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has declined a residential plot in Islamabad under the official policy for the allotment of government land to secretaries and judges at throwaway prices.

Following his recent promotion to the highest echelon of civil bureaucracy, Tauqir Shah formally wrote to the secretary Establishment, stating that since he already owns a house and property in Islamabad, therefore, his name may not be considered under the policy for allotment of plots to BS-22 officers.

This is rarely done in the civil bureaucracy. However, there are certain exceptions among the judges of the Supreme Court and all the incumbent judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), who did not get the government plots on subsidised prices.

The highly controversial government policy of doling out residential plots to judges, bureaucrats, journalists and other influential people was reviewed during the PTI government following a landmark IHC decision.

The court had ruled that the allotment of plots on subsidised rates to top judges, bureaucrats and others was illegal. In an earlier decision, the IHC had disallowed allotment of two plots in Islamabad to Supreme Court judges and BS-22 government servants.

In the case of judges, the IHC pointed out, “The privileges and entitlements of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts are described in the relevant presidential order. Like a civil servant or other federal government employee, a judge of the Supreme Court or high court has no right or entitlement to a plot costing less than its market value.”

The court was of the view that “participation of a court or its judges in any scheme of the FGEHA [Federal Government Employees Housing Authority] or accepting its benefits are contrary to the public interest and not in conformity with the impartiality and independence of the judiciary as an institution… was inappropriate and not in conformity with the constitutional status of these exalted courts. It was definitely not permissible under the Constitution for a judge or a court to be seen as usurping the fundamental rights of the people at large and become complacent to a policy formulated in breach of public interest.”

Following the orders of the IHC, the issue was discussed in the Imran Khan cabinet but according to Fawad Chaudhry, the then information minister, PTI’s law minister Farogh Nasim, opposed the policy of abolition of allotment of government plots to judges.

Later, the Ministry of Housing and Works filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the IHC order.

Till recently only at the federal government level two residential plots worth millions of rupees were allotted to each judge of the Supreme Court and every BS-22 civilian officer. High court judges are allotted one plot each. Setting a good precedent, however, at least four apex court judges, including three presently serving and all judges of the present IHC, have not applied for even a single plot.

The allotment of plots to judges is not part of their terms and conditions as reflected in the Presidential Order, which under the Constitution envisages their pay, pensions, perks etc. Former CJP Jawwad S Khawaja had also refused to get any plot from the government while his colleagues got two each. In 2017, the revered former CJP had told The News that the policy of allotment of residential plots to a selected few enjoying influence is unfair and unjust but in case of judges of the superior judiciary it is not in accordance with the code of conduct.

The PTI government had found the IHC decision really encouraging but it could not abolish the policy of doling out government land to influential and selected sections of the society.

Interestingly, the allotment of government lands to influential segments of society has never been backed by any act of Parliament but through executive policies allegedly made under pressure.

The Public Accounts Committee had in 2012 already sought the discontinuation of the policy of allotment of agricultural land to army officers (except to the families of martyrs), the abolition of a plot quota for judges and journalists and the provision of only one plot to grade 22 officers. However, the policy was dumped and forgotten.

The PAC had also made critical comments against this culture of doling out plots to influential groups. The report had said: “Provision of plots of land by the executive to independent and impartial sections, like judges and journalists, would lead to allegations of partiality or bias in their working. Therefore, there should be no special quota or allotment of plots except for disabled, widows and families of martyrs.”

For federal government employees, the PAC had also suggested the launching of a DHA-like scheme so that officers contribute monthly, and on retirement can be allotted a constructed house or residential apartment.