MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has reclaimed 174 vehicles from non-entitled government officials and some former ministers for their disposal in the light of a recent high court judgment.

Official sources told Dawn that former prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas had ordered during his rule that ‘worn out’ vehicles should be withdrawn from government officials and replaced with new ones, as per entitlement, so as to reduce fuel and wear and tear costs.

Last week, the AJK high court had also directed the government to withdraw official vehicles from non-entitled government servants and ensure that all allotments were made in accordance with the entitlement of the officer concerned.

The court had also set aside the government’s decision to enhance the entitlement of the secretaries from one vehicle to two each.

High court recently directed govt to withdraw vehicles from non-entitled officials

According to sources, the reclaimed [174] vehicles included the ones additionally possessed by the secretaries as well as those possessed by the seven members of previous Mr Ilyas led cabinet.

These vehicles had been parked in the open spaces of the new prime minister’s secretariat, women development complex and chief secretary’s parking lot under the open sky, the sources said.

They said since the formation of the new cabinet was on the cards, some of the reclaimed vehicles would be allotted to the new ministers.

It may be recalled that despite the passage of over 50 days since the dissolution of the previous cabinet, the government had not withdrawn vehicles from 12 former ministers and five former parliamentary secretaries, because they had teamed up with Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq after deserting the PTI.

All of them were hopeful of regaining their previous positions in the likely expansion of the existing two-member cabinet, sources said.

Nevertheless, the sources added, the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) had to ensure availability of at least two dozen more vehicles in good condition – one car and one jeep - for the fresh ministers as the cabinet in the coalition government was likely to swell to 26-28 members.

When contacted, Secretary S&GAD Raja Amjad Pervaiz confirmed to Dawn that some of the vehicles would be allotted to the new cabinet members while the rest would be either shifted to the departments which genuinely needed them for allotments to their officers under entitlement rules or disposed of through an open auction before or by June 30.

He dispelled the impression that AJK had too many official vehicles, far beyond its actual needs.

In fact, he added, this impression was created because AJK lacked a proper mechanism to dispose of vehicles after completion of their natural life.

“Ideally, after the purchase of new vehicles, the old ones should be auctioned; however, in Azad Kashmir old vehicles would not be disposed of and instead unlawfully given to the non-entitled employees out of complicity,” he said.

Apart from this, the impression that AJK had too many vehicles was also created because autonomous, semi-autonomous bodies and corporations were also using green number plates in violation of the relevant law, he said.

Mr Pervaiz recalled that recently the government had given the deadline of June 10 to the concerned excise and taxation officials regarding replacement of green number plates of such vehicles.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2023