Justice Iftikhar Rejects Plot In Capital’s Posh Area

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has rejected the government’s offer of allotment of a residential plot worth Rs30 million in Islamabad, it is learnt.

GM Sikandar, former housing and works secretary and presently member of the federal services tribunal, told The News on Friday that in line with the government’s policy the housing ministry had issued an offer letter to the chief justice of Pakistan for the allotment of a 600 sq yard residential plot in I-8 Sector of Islamabad on August 10 this year but the same day the government had to cancel the allotment after Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry refused to accept it.

The housing ministry that had taken the initiative apparently to please the chief justice was given a dressing down and had to undo everything within hours.Sikandar confirmed that the ministry had also sought the list of other Supreme Court judges, who were to be provided the second residential plot in Islamabad in line with the official policy.

By surrendering his right protected under the stated government policy, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry seems to have subtly rejected the plot politics of Pakistan, which enables a select few influential groups to get the lion’s share in state resources, leaving nothing for the poor and the needy.
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It might be a coincidence but the housing ministry issued the offer letter to the chief justice at a time when the Supreme Court is already seized with the suo moto case involving highly controversial allotments made by the present government through the FGEHF to a select class of bureaucrats, journalists and others.

The Supreme Court, which had referred the case to the government for an inquiry into these controversial allotments, has already been informed that most of these allotments, including those to government officials and journalists, were made in violation of the policy and in a non-transparent manner.

A senior housing ministry source said that the inquiry report also showed how a superior judiciary’s dismissal order of a writ petition seeking allotment of plots was used as a justification to make allotment of residential plots.

It should be mentioned here that in line with the government’s policy three of the Supreme Court judges who had re-joined the Supreme Court by accepting the Naek formula of re-appointment were also allotted plots in the D-12 sector last year.