Humayun Khan
PESHAWAR: A divisional bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel has suspended the payment of IT Professional Allowance to employees of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretariat and other departments, and has sought a response from the provincial government.
The petition filed by employees of the Peshawar High Court’s IT section. The petitioners’ counsel, Rooh ul Amin advocate argued that despite other departments’ employees receiving IT Professional Allowance, the high court employees had been denied this allowance since 2021.
The counsel stated that the high court employees are entitled to receive the IT Professional Allowance, as they possess the required qualifications and experience in the field of information technology. However, the provincial government has withheld this allowance from them, citing that they receive other allowances.
The provincial government’s stance is that high court employees receive various other allowances, including judicial allowances, making them ineligible for the IT Professional Allowance. However, the counsel pointed out that employees of other departments, including the secretariat, receive both the IT Professional Allowance and other allowances, highlighting discriminatory treatment against high court employees.
The counsel argued that the withholding of the IT Professional Allowance from high court employees is unjustified and discriminatory. He requested the court to direct the provincial government to release the allowance to the high court employees.
The finance secretary informed the court that a committee had been formed to resolve the issue of IT Professional Allowance for high court employees. However, the counsel questioned whether this committee was specific to high court employees or applied to other departments as well.
The court observed that if the finance department had withheld the allowance from high court employees citing their receipt of judicial and other allowances, the same logic should apply to employees of other departments receiving similar allowances.
The court ruled that the payment of IT Professional Allowance to employees of other departments, including the secretariat, should also be suspended until further review. The court directed the relevant authorities to submit their responses regarding the matter.
Court seeks updated report on Regi Model Town affectees: A divisional bench comprising of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Waqar Ahmad has sought a detailed report from Commissioner’s Peshawar and the Secretary Local Government on the next hearing regarding the petition filed by the affectees of Regi Lalma Model Town.
The writ petition filed by Sirajul Haq Yousafzai and others while the counsel Ayaz Khan advocate appeared before the court. He informed the court that the affectees of Regi Lalma Model Town had been allotted plots, but they had not been handed over possession yet. He further informed the court that the court had previously issued decisions and even a jirga was held, but the possession was still not handed over.
The counsel requested the court to direct the authorities to hand over possession of the plots to the affectees immediately. During the hearing, it was also informed that a committee headed by the Commissioner’s Peshawar had been constituted to look into the matter. PHC directed the Commissioner’s Peshawar and the Secretary of Local Government to submit an updated report on the matter within 14 days.
