KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Sindh High Court has ordered the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) to pay Rs110 million in pension and retirement dues to the legal heir of a deceased retired officer, ruling that pension and retirement benefits are legally enforceable rights.
A constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court allowed the petition filed by Sana Aziz regarding the non-payment of pension and retirement benefits of her late father, a retired KDA officer, and directed the authority to release Rs110 million in outstanding dues.
In its ruling, the court held that pension and retirement benefits are not subject to the discretion of any institution but are legal rights of employees. It further observed that the timely payment of such dues is a constitutional responsibility of state institutions and that financial constraints cannot be used as a justification to deny employees or their legal heirs their lawful entitlements.
After reviewing the record, the court found that the deceased officer had not received his retirement dues during his lifetime. It ruled that Sana Aziz, being the daughter and legal heir of the deceased, is entitled to receive the outstanding payments.
The court also directed the KDA to submit a compliance report before the Registrar of the Sindh High Court after clearing the dues.
During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel submitted that Aziz Ahmed had retired as Director IT in 2012, but despite fulfilling all legal requirements, he was not paid his pension and other retirement benefits.