IG Islamabad Ordered to Vacate One of His Two Official Residences

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared on Friday that a public servant cannot have more than one official residence and ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad to keep either the allocated house in F-7 or the one in G-8.

IHC Justice, Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, had reserved his decision in response to a case filed by an interior ministry section officer, challenging the ‘out-of-turn’ assignment of a government residence to IGP Nasir Akbar Khan.

In addition, Justice Kayani asked for a report from the Ministry of Housing and Works on the total number of government workers who maintain two official houses in the federal capital. The court ordered the housing secretary to report within three months.

During the proceeding, Justice Kayani instructed the IGP to give the ministry custody of one of the two residences.

Section officer Waqas Ali Khan claimed in his appeal that he was living in a government residence in G-8. The house was initially assigned to his mother, but he kept it once she retired.

Advocate Danyal Hassan, the petitioner’s attorney, told the court that estate administrators and police forcefully evicted his client and tossed his possessions out of the residence.

He claimed that the estate office did not provide prior notice to the resident and that the petitioner should be permitted to keep the residence.

He stated that the housing ministry could assign the residence to the section officer according to the allocation guidelines and that his request was being processed.