ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, while hearing a case of the Allied Bank Limited (ABL) pensioners, imposed a fined on ABL President Tahir Hassan Qureshi for evading the court hearing the previous day.
The petition filed by pensioners maintained the bank never reconsidered or increased the pensions of the retired officers since 1999 nor made any contributions to the petitions’ accounts, which according to Income Tax Ordinance 2001 (ITO) should be commensurate to the profits it made.
The chief justice observed that while the president of the bank is received three to five million rupees in salary, the bank was not ready to pay even the peanuts to the poor pensioners. CJP remarked that “how can I expect Khushhal Bibi, an old pensioner, to be Khushhal (content) in Rs 243 [she received in pension] which can barely pay the fare of a Rickshaw (Cab) from her home to the bank”.
SC also instructed the bank authorities, keeping in view the contemptuous gesture of the latter, to uphold the moral standards while dealing with the erstwhile officials who worked, their whole lives up till the retirement, for the organization
President ABL was also monetarily penalized by Supreme Court of Pakistan for missing an appearance before court on Wednesdays. CJP instructed him to pay 200K fine for having missed the hearing the other day to which the former responded, ‘I have the fine with me, I’ll pay it’.
When the officials from ABL were contacted to comment on the matter by the scribe, they condescendingly dodged the questions terming the matter ‘too nominal to be of concern’.
Subsequently the bench adjourned further hearing of the case till January 18.
Published in Daily Times, January 19th 2018.