Former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry cannot possess bulletproof car: IHC
'Former SCP judges are only entitled to privileges provided under supra presidential Order of 1997'
March 18, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday issued a written order against the possession of a bulletproof car by the former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chaudhry.
A day earlier, on Thursday, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC had issued notices to the interior, cabinet, law and justice secretaries and the Islamabad police chief in a contempt of court proceeding in connection with the bulletproof car presently in the use of former CJP Chaudhry.
Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi had filed a petition against the provision of the government-maintained bulletproof car to Justice (retd) Chaudhry.
In the judgment issued on March 9, Justice Kayani ruled that the retired judges can only get specified post-retirement benefits as mentioned in The Supreme Court Judges Leave, Pension and Privileges Order, 1999. The benefits include retaining an official driver or orderly after leaving the office and, as per an amendment in 2016, round-the-clock posting of a security guard at the residence of a retired judge during their lifetime.
According to the IHC order, released yesterday, former CJPs – Chaudhry, Abdul Hameed Dogar, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Nasirul Mulk, Nawaz Abbasi and Tariq Pervaiz have been utilising benefits they are not entitled to.
“The former Judges of the SCP are only entitled to the privileges provided under the supra presidential Order of 1997, therefore, anything contrary to the said order has no legal effect and same could not be announced by the Prime Minister of Pakistan nor is anyone entitled to receive such benefit under the law,” wrote Justice Kayani.
