MUHAMMAD HASHIM KHAN KAKAR, J. The supra Constitutional Petition has been addressed under Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 ("the Constitution"), whereby following relief is solicited by the petitioner:
2. The precise facts necessary for disposal of the instant petition are that the petitioner, Bayazid Khan Kharoti son of Abdul Rehman, who is a local inhabitant of Quetta and journalist by profession, is aggrieved of Notification dated 15th August, 2022, issued by the Government of Balochistan in respect of perks and privileges of retired Chief Secretaries/widows of the officers for lifetime. The Notification dated 15th August, 2022, speaks as under: "NOTIFICATION No.13-25(5)/2019/SO-1(S&GAD) With prior approval of the Competent Authority (Chief Minister Balochistan) and in supersession of all previous notifications in this regard, issued from time to time, the Government of Balochistan is pleased to extend following facilities in respect of retired ex-Chief Secretaries/widow of the officer for lifetime (in case of demise of the officer concerned).- i. Facility of gratis licenses for one prohibited bore and two non - prohibited bore weapons. ii. Free access to Government Guest Houses, Rest Houses, Circuit Houses in the province and Balochistan House at Karachi and Islamabad. iii. Pick and drop facilities at Quetta/Islamabad Airports with protocol coverage. iv. Detailment of a staff car for a maximum of three days during their stay at Balochistan House, Karachi and Islamabad. v. Payment of salary of a driver for life time as per salary of a driver of S&GAD Balochistan with admissible allowances. vi. Payment of salary of a gunman for life time as per salary of a security guard of S&GAD Balochistan with admissible allowances. vii. 250 liters of POL per month."
3. We have duly considered the grounds taken in the memo of the petition and the contentions raised by the learned Additional Advocate General and also minutely gone through the record of the case.
4. Undoubtedly, a Chief Secretary, after retirement, deserves more respect, honor and dignity being head of the Provincial bureaucracy and is entitled for pension granted by the Government in consideration or recognition of meritorious past services. Such right depends upon statutory provisions and is determinable primarily from the terms of the statute under which the right or privilege is granted. Similarly, the entitlement to perks and privileges for a retired Chief Secretary, or any other public servant, is determined by the laws and regulations of the specific jurisdiction. The rules regarding post-retirement benefits can vary between different provinces. In some cases, retired government officials, including Chief Secretaries, may be eligible for certain perks and privileges as part of their retirement benefits. These benefits could include pension plans, healthcare coverage, housing facilities, transportation, security arrangements and other allowances.
5. However, claiming of additional perks and privileges that too without backing of Law, Rules and Regulations, is not permissible because the specific perks and privileges granted to retired Chief Secretaries are always outlined in the relevant legislation, rules or policies of the Provincial Government and these provisions may differ from one jurisdiction to another. No doubt, in sister provinces, facilities mentioned in the impugned notification are extended to those retired Chief Secretaries who are local/domicile of the concerned Provinces and after retirement permanently settled over there. At this juncture a question arises as to whether the people of Balochistan with a weak and feeble economy can afford such bounty to extend the facilities in question to each and every retired Chief Secretary that too outside the scope of applicable statute as a favor? The answer is 'No'. It is interesting to observe that pension and availability of such incentives is a right which accrues to a person on his retirement from service but the impugned notifications have been issued by some of the Chief Secretaries themselves during their service.
6. It is imperative to state here that despite of our repeated queries, the learned Additional Advocate General has failed to refer any law, rule or regulations regarding the special perks and privileges of Chief Secretaries after their retirement. The perusal of record shows that initially in the year 2009, a summary was moved by the then Secretary S&GAD, stating therein that the Government of Sindh, Punjab and NWFP have approved a number of facilities to the Ex-Chief Secretaries of their respective governments, who have retired. The summary was approved by the then Chief Minister and the following notification was issued on 15th March 2010: "NOTIFICATION.
No. 13-25/70/SO-1 (S&GAD) With prior approval of the competent authority, the following facilities are hereby extended to Chief Secretaries to the Government of Balochistan, who have served for a minimum tenure of one year and have permanently settled in Balochistan after retirement. In case of demise of the officer, these facilities shall be extended to the widow of the officer for life time:- 1) Exemption from taking out licenses for possessing upto one prohibited bore and two non- prohibited bore weapons.
2) Free access to Government Guest Houses, Rest Houses, Circuit Houses in the province and Balochistan House at Karachi and Islamabad.
3) Pick and drop facilities at Quetta/Islamabad Airports with protocol coverage.
4) Detailment of a staff car for a maximum of three days during their stay at Balochistan Houses, Karachi and Islamabad.
5) Services of driver for life time, to be appointed by the former Chief Secretary.
6) Services of a gunman (Security) from the Provincial Police or an orderly for life time, to be appointed by the former Chief Secretary."
7. A bare reading of the above mentioned notification makes it crystal clear that the said perks and privileges were extended only to those Chief Secretaries of the Government of Balochistan, who have served for a minimum tenure of one year and have permanently settled in Balochistan after retirement and in case of demise of the officer, these facilities shall be extended to the widow of the officer for lifetime. It is astonishing to observe that with the passage of time, some of the Chief Secretaries, who were at the verge of their retirement expanded the list of perks and privileges that too at the cost of public exchequer. It is worth mentioning that the tenure of most of the Chief Secretaries is less than one year and neither are they local/domicile of the province nor opt to reside in the province after their retirement. The record shows that prior to issuance of the impugned notification; the summary was approved by the Chief Minister in the following words: "Para-15 approved. However, the facilities/incentives shall be extended to those who are local/domicile of Balochistan and are permanently settled in Balochistan. "
8. We are afraid that after approval of the summary by the Chief Minister, a fresh summary was moved to the Chief Minister by the then Secretary, S&GAD, requesting to extend the said facilities to all former retired Chief Secretaries while burdening the public exchequer Rs.27.300 Million per annum. Astonishingly, the summary also contains a request for extension of such facilities/package to the officers of provincial service and the same was approved while deleting the conditions in respect of one year service in the province and local/domicile.
9. It is a matter of common knowledge that Chief Secretaries are not posted merely on merits but it is the sweet will of Chief Executive to post any one among the equals. In such circumstances extension of such facilities only to those who have been posted as Chief Secretary while depriving his batch fellows is discriminatory, arbitrary and unjustifiable. The impugned notification has a limited legal standing being issued without backing of law and notification often derive its authority from specific law or regulations. It is a classic example of person-specific, targeted or individualized legislation.
10. Even otherwise, the Notification in question is straightforward liable to be set-aside on the strength of the dictum laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case of "Mustafa Impex (PLD 2016 SC 808)", as the Notification in question has been issued by the S&GAD Government of Balochistan, without approval of the Provincial Cabinet.
Since, the initial notification dated 15th March 2010 has been issued illegally and without legal backing and authority, as such, the issuance of all subsequent steps and notifications based on the same are also invalid. Petition is allowed and the impugned notifications are set aside.