The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has completely rejected recently made claims in the media regarding the Supreme Court Bar Association Housing Scheme (SCBAHS), saying that efforts are being made to malign the association and its distinguished members.
They also complained about “the deliberate attempt over the past few months in the media to malign and defame members of the Superior judiciary and the lawyers community.”
According to reports published in mainstream newspapers, a number of retired and serving Supreme Court judges, as well as more than twenty High Court justices are vying to get residential plots in the SCBAHS.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is still hearing a case regarding sector development of the residential housing society by the government on behalf of the SCBA in Islamabad. Said judges had been criticised for applying to get residential plots in the area even though they had been involved in hearing the SCBAHS cases.
The Bar Association completely distanced themselves from these claims, saying that all reports being circulated are completely false and nothing but an attempt to deceive the general public.
“It is highly malicious and libelous to name the former President of the SCBA as well as the current and former Attorney Generals for obtaining plots in the SCBAHS.”
The names of the four serving Supreme Court Justices making rounds as part of the allegations included Justices Ejaz Afzal Khan, Faisal Arab, Mazhar Alam Khan, and Sajjad Ali Shah.
The association argued that all those named were full members of the SCBA and had full rights to obtain the plots regardless of their professional duties.
“It is the view of the association that the names of these senior lawyers have been named to defame them and to create the impression that they want to grab land under the pretext of land acquisition.”
Directly addressing the news item which had made the claims, the bar association said that it “deliberately and with the intention to mislead the public at large has concealed to mention that so far SCBA has deposited a huge amount of more than Rs. 5 billion since last one year with Land Acquisition Office and despite this the land is under the process of acquisition.”
The clarification from the association in this regard comes due to the fact that allegations had been made that the SCBA had somehow acquired the Supreme Court’s directive to the relative government departments, both for the development and land acquisition for the SCBAHS, which is a private entity.
However, the SCBA further added that this is not the first case of land acquisition in the federal capital, saying there have been “more than 20 to 30 housing societies established and lands were acquired for them through the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.” They further argued that to label the SCBAHS case as “unique” or “unprecedented” is unfair and cited the case of Muhammad Ali, PLD 1960 S.C. 60).
