ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday summoned PIA director finance along with the record of the fixation of pilots’ pension.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, conducted the hearing of the case pertaining to the fixation of pension of PIA pilots in Pakistan. The chief justice, during the hearing, remarked that the PIA services rules do not mention pilots pension whereas there is no doubt that pilots are public servants.
On the other hand, the pilots are of the view that they are eligible to receive a pension under a trust deed. They said that after years of services as public servants they were only being paid Rs8,000 to Rs33,000 in pension.
The applicant’s lawyer informed the court that the pilots were being given pension from pension trust funds. He said that there is no information about the availability of funds in the account. The lawyer said the management had blocked their pension from a management order.
Justice Faisal Arab questioned who is responsible for insufficient funds in the PIA trust fund. He remarked the court should itself decide what will be the volume of the pension. Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked the court will review the order through which the pension of the pilots has been stopped. He further remarked the court will have to check if the funds are available in the trust account, adding that a rise in pension will only be possible when funds will be available in the account. The top court adjourned the case until December 5.
