11 judges to get interest-free loans worth Rs360m

LAHORE: 11 judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) will get interest-free loans worth over Rs360 million on easy instalments following the approval of the caretaker Punjab government, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The Punjab caretaker government approved the provision of interest-free loans worth over Rs360 million to 11 LHC judges. The loans will be interest-free and the judges would make repayments in 12 years.

It was learnt that the LHC judges have been awarded the loans equivalent to their 36 basic salaries of three years whose average amount is Rs31.5 million.

The approval was given by the Standing Committee for Finance of the Punjab caretaker cabinet.

Related: CJP, fellow Supreme Court Judges salaries increased by ordinance

The judges include Justice Rasaal Hasan Syed, Justice Shakil Ahmad, Justice Muhammad Tariq Nadeem, Justice Amjad Rafiq, Justice Abid Hussain Chattha, Justice Anwaar Hussain, Justice Ali Zia Bajwa, Justice Nadeem Arshad, Justice Salim Shahid, Justice Raza Qureshi and Justice Raheel Kamran.

In August, the judges with less than five-year service have been barred from availing leaves for studying abroad.

A report was issued by the registrar of Lahore High Court which stated that judges who are yet to complete five-year service should not apply for leaves for studying abroad.

The report was sent on the directions of Chief Justice Lahore High Court and strict actions will be taken against the judicial officer who shows carelessness in this regard.

Earlier, the newly elevated Chief Justice of Lahore High Court (LHC) Muhammad Ameer Bhatti made several changes in the judicial hierarchy of the province after taking the oath of his position.

The LHC chief justice replaced seven district and session judges in the province besides also removing the registrar of the Lahore High Court Mushtaq Ahmad Ojla. He was replaced by Irfan Saeed as the new registrar of the high court.