Each of Balochistan Assembly’s members had been allocated Rs250 million in discretionary funds and alleged that the bulk of those funds had been misappropriatedPHOTO: FILE
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed serious reservations over the way the previous Balochistan government had spent development funds received through the National Finance Commission (NFC) and observed that it might have to reconsider whether legislators could be provided discretionary funds for development schemes.
“We will give our judgment after examining whether legislators can be allocated funds (for development work at their discretion), especially in light of the situation in Balochistan,” observed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is heading the three-member bench hearing the petition filed by Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Abdul Qahar Khan Wadan. The chief justice also directed Attorney General Irfan Qadir to assist the bench in arriving at a comprehensive proclamation on the legality of the discretionary funds.
In his petition, Wadan raised several questions over the way the previous provincial government spent the money on different development schemes. He also maintained that each of Balochistan Assembly’s members had been allocated Rs250 million in discretionary funds and alleged that the bulk of those funds had been misappropriated given that a majority of development schemes remained unfinished.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the court noted that the discretionary fund system was introduced in 1985, when assemblies were elected on a non-political party basis.
“There is consensus all over the developed world that the executive carries out development schemes while the legislators only pass laws,” the court observed, adding that one of the ways to remove the sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan was to look after their daily needs and requirements. Despite the expenditure of considerable funds, the bench noted, “the citizens of the province have never received any benefits”. This has led to a growing sense despondency in Balochistan.
Things would have been different in the province “had sincere efforts been made to secure life and create opportunities for earning livelihood”.
The bench, in its order, observed that the Balochistan government needed to initiate civil and criminal action against those responsible for misusing the funds meant for public welfare.
Counsel for Balochistan government Khawaja Haris, meanwhile, informed the court that cases of misappropriation had been sent to the National Accountability Bureau for the initiation of corruption references against those involved.
Despite its reservations on the way development funds for Balochistan had been spent, the SC decided to allow the provincial government to re-appropriate budgetary allocations for development works worth Rs24 billion earlier suspended by the court. On Wednesday, the court had been told that the funds would lapse if they were not spent before June 2013. The SC will start examining the utility of the development schemes after two weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2013.
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