Administrator’s appointment challenged: Court orders setting up market committee for Sabzi Mandi
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui orders authorities to ensure constitution of committee and issue licences to the traders
Islamabad High Court. PHOTO: IHC WEBSITE
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the city administration to set up a market committee for regulating business in capital’s largest Fruit and Vegetable Market.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui ordered the interior ministry, the capital administration, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the I-11 market administrator, to ensure constitution of the committee and issue licences to the traders.
Challenging the licence fee currently being charged by two different authorities, — the CDA and the market administrator appointed by the federal government -- the traders have taken the ICT, the CDA, the ministry and the administrator of the Sabzi Mandi to court.
Double fee: Traders take interior ministry, CDA to court
Instead of constituting the market committee, the authorities notified an administrator, the judgment noted.
“The government’s failure to constitute the market committee is no ground to issue the notification [of the appointment of the administrator] under section 36,” Justice Siddiqui stated.
In its order, the court said that the committee should exercise its authority under the ICT ordinance and the instructions of the government, and grant licences to the traders.
The petitioners through their counsels, Abdul Shakoor Paracha and Haseeb Shakoor Paracha, stated that the demand for obtaining licence and levying of fee on the traders by the administrator in addition to the CDA, was illegal and liable to be set-aside.
On the one hand, the CDA under its laws has the right to set up a market and charge fee for the issuance of licences, the counsel had maintained.
Seeking licence fee: Interior ministry, ICT admin put on notice
The petitioners and other were paying taxes and the entry fee since the inception of the market in 1980 under the CDA laws, he added.
On the other hand, the federal government issued a notification under the ICT ordinance that also authorised the administrator to charge licence fee from the traders.
Both the laws empower, two different authorities to set up and administer markets, and to charge fee for issuance of licences, Haseeb said.
He added that powers granted to two different authorities under two different laws overlapped.
Haseeb said that the traders were already paying the “trade licence fee” to the CDA, whereas the same was also now being demanded by the market administrator.
He claimed that the powers being exercised by the administrator did not have the backing of law as there was no provision of administrator in the ICT ordinance, 2002.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2015.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the city administration to set up a market committee for regulating business in capital’s largest Fruit and Vegetable Market.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui ordered the interior ministry, the capital administration, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the I-11 market administrator, to ensure constitution of the committee and issue licences to the traders.
Challenging the licence fee currently being charged by two different authorities, — the CDA and the market administrator appointed by the federal government -- the traders have taken the ICT, the CDA, the ministry and the administrator of the Sabzi Mandi to court.
Double fee: Traders take interior ministry, CDA to court
Instead of constituting the market committee, the authorities notified an administrator, the judgment noted.
“The government’s failure to constitute the market committee is no ground to issue the notification [of the appointment of the administrator] under section 36,” Justice Siddiqui stated.
In its order, the court said that the committee should exercise its authority under the ICT ordinance and the instructions of the government, and grant licences to the traders.
The petitioners through their counsels, Abdul Shakoor Paracha and Haseeb Shakoor Paracha, stated that the demand for obtaining licence and levying of fee on the traders by the administrator in addition to the CDA, was illegal and liable to be set-aside.
On the one hand, the CDA under its laws has the right to set up a market and charge fee for the issuance of licences, the counsel had maintained.
Seeking licence fee: Interior ministry, ICT admin put on notice
The petitioners and other were paying taxes and the entry fee since the inception of the market in 1980 under the CDA laws, he added.
On the other hand, the federal government issued a notification under the ICT ordinance that also authorised the administrator to charge licence fee from the traders.
Both the laws empower, two different authorities to set up and administer markets, and to charge fee for issuance of licences, Haseeb said.
He added that powers granted to two different authorities under two different laws overlapped.
Haseeb said that the traders were already paying the “trade licence fee” to the CDA, whereas the same was also now being demanded by the market administrator.
He claimed that the powers being exercised by the administrator did not have the backing of law as there was no provision of administrator in the ICT ordinance, 2002.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2015.