ISLAMABAD:
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) Qazi Faez Isa has expressed concern about wasting public money on the construction of unnecessary walls and other structures for augmenting the security of already well-secured Government Officers Residences (GOR) in Lahore.
In a letter addressed to the Punjab chief secretary, the SC registrar on Saturday that CJ Isa during his stay at a rest house in Lahore’s GOR from April 15 and April 19 noted that “the character of the GOR has changed, and continues to change, for the worse”.
The letter asked the chief secretary as to why rooms for security guards have been “illegally” constructed on open, green areas in the GOR despite the fact that entry into the residences is restricted, and gained after security checks.
“If a guard is required, he should be [accommodated] within the premises of the residence of the person to be guarded,” it said, adding that unnecessary and wasteful expenditure on walls constructed around each residence within the GOR also concerned the CJ.
“Is it justifiable to spend public resources on walls within the secured GOR? And, why has the earlier practice of installing fences been discarded?” it asked. The letter instructed the chief secretary to provide the applicable rules and regulations in respect of buildings and construction, including walls, within the GOR.
CJ Qazi Faez Isa stayed in Lahore from April 15 to 19 and led a bench to hear various cases at the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry.
Justice Isa will hear various civil and criminal cases at the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry for five days—from April 22 to April 26. The CJ will head a three-member bench also comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.