HYDERABAD: A division bench of Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit comprising Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput and Justice Mohammad Faisal Kamal Alam on Thursday ordered the chief manager of State Bank at Hyderabad and manager of Allied Bank’s Civic Centre branch in the city to attach Hyderabad Development Authority’s six accounts to the extent of Rs20m and submit compliance report by July 11.

The court directed the HDA director general to submit detailed report with regard to the total sanctioned posts and appointments made over and above the number. It also asked for details of appointments made in the HDA over the last three years.

The order was passed on a petition filed by Mohammad Yunus Memon and 28 other retired HDA employees, including two former DGs.

The petitioners have prayed that the respondents be restrained from using HDA employees’ pension funds for any purpose other than defined under the relevant regulations.

HDA Director General Pervez Ahmed, who was present in court, filed a statement to maintain that the institution was facing serious financial constrains and was not in a position to disburse salaries and pensionary benefits and even meet day to day expenditure.

Petitioners’ counsel Imran Ali Borano submitted in court that HDA employees’ pension fund and other grants had been used under different heads due to which retired employees were not getting their monthly pension.

The petitioners informed court that payment to them had been stopped from Sept 2023.

They said that the HDA had invested the pension fund with various banks and institutions.

They said they tried their best to see the HDA director general by visiting his office time and again but he appeared not ready to receive and hear them to resolve their issue. They prayed the court to direct the respondents to release their monthly pension along with arrears immediately.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2024