KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the Accountant-General of Pakistan Revenues (AGPR), Karachi, to deposit the amount of Rs11.680 billion on account of dues of non-litigant retired employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) in its account within seven days.

The direction of the court came in the case relating to the non-payment of the dues of those retired employees of the PSM who were not part of the 850 retired employees of the mill who were ordered to be paid their post-retirement dues by the court in its May 18, 2020 verdict. The court later took up the issue of post-retirement dues of the non-litigant employees of the PSM.

According to the written order of the SHC bench, the Finance Division through Iffat Malik, Joint Secretary of Finance, filed a statement in the court on Monday, which said that an amount of Rs11.680 billion had been released on November 19, 2020 in favour of the non-litigant employees of the PSM.

The Finance Division has requested the AGPR to authorize the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to credit the said amount in the account of the PSM, the order stated. The deputy attorney-general told the court that the AGPR was required to comply with the Finance Division directive in seven days. The DAG and the counsel for the PSM told the court that after receiving the amount, the same shall be deposited by the PSM with the Nazir of the court.

In view of the urgency of the matter, the AGPR is directed to ensure that the entire amount of Rs11.680 billion is deposited in the PSM account within seven days, starting from today (Monday), and the PSM is directed to deposit the same amount with the Nazir of the court within three days after the receipt of the amount, the SHC ordered.

The court declared that upon receipt of the said amount, the Nazir shall continue with the exercise of disbursement of the amount to the retired employees of the PSM in terms of the order passed by the court. The court also ordered issuance of a notice to the AGPR by putting off the hearing of the case till December 9, 2020.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020