Balochistan High Court. PHOTO: FILE
QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court (BHC) has suspended the provincial government’s notification for the Rs5.3 billion Balochistan District Development Programme (BADD) and directed the officials concerned to stop implementation of the programme immediately.
A BHC division bench – headed by Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and comprising Justice Nazeer Langove – issued this order on Thursday while hearing a constitutional petition seeking suspension of the provincial PSDP.
The applicant submitted record of the funds allocated on the instruction of the chief minister to the special development programme. The petitioner also presented documents of the funds allocated for various schemes in the current year’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs4339.797 million.
The court remarked that the BADD programme is a violation of the Supreme Court orders. It noted that the Supreme Court has declared block allocation as unconstitutional in Raja Pervaiz Ashraf case and Rahim Ziarat Wal and Zamrak Khan Achakzai case.
The court asked the Planning and Development additional chief secretary (ACS) as to why the court should not start contempt of court proceedings against the government for this violation.
The bench later suspended the BADD programme notification and ordered the Planning and Development ACS, secretary finance, commissioners and all deputy commissioners to stop implementation of the programme immediately.
The bench also ordered the ACS to appear in person. It also directed the Advocate General to submit para-wise comments. The court later adjourned hearing till March 19.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2020.
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