ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday directed all four provincial governments to submit a detailed report on the progress made in the Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) case.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the case. During the hearing, the apex court asked Sindh and Balochistan to formally inform the court of the progress in the said case.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Gulzar expressed anger over the federal government and warned that if the government fails to conclude the case, the court would be left with no choice but to itself distribute the funds among the workers.
“Why the government’s machinery isn’t working?” the top judge inquired while questioning the justification of retained funds by the high-rank officers.
“The officers are roaming around and attend seminars only, and do not work […] are they appointed to take salaries and do no work?” the top judge asked.
The chief justice further stated that the funds should be issued automatically, observing that the colonies which were to be built for the workers, were not built due to the non-release of funds.
Chief Justice Gulzar also asked whether the funds have been distributed similarly to the distribution in other schemes.
Additional Attorney General Ilyas Bhatti told the court that it was decided by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) that the Centre would collect all money. “Except Sindh, the federal government collects money from the rest of the three provinces.”
Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing for three weeks.
It merits a mention here that the Punjab government released Rs3.5 billion workers welfare fund for the labourers of the province in January last year.
