Cantonment areas: Interim boards allowed to work till February 6

SC asks law secretary to apprise PM of delay in LG law amendment by parliament.

ISLAMABAD:

An irked Supreme Court asked the law secretary on Thursday to apprise the prime minister regarding the delay in passing ‘Cantonment Laws (Amendment) Bill 2013’ by the parliament and submit a report in this regard within ten days. 

Expressing its dismay over the federal government for not giving a date to hold the LG polls in the cantonment areas, the three-judge bench has also allowed the federal government to extend the functioning of interim cantonment boards till February 6 to address public issues.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, observed that it seemed that the government did not want to hold elections in the cantonment areas.

The bench is hearing a 2009 petition of former vice president of Cantonment Board Quetta Advocate Raja Rab Nawaz who had challenged the absence of local government elections in different cantonment boards.

Responding to the bench’s remarks, Additional Attorney General for Pakistan Shah Khawar said that the process to pass the proposed amendments to the Cantonments Boards Acts, 1924 was yet to be completed by the parliament.

The court expressed its annoyance over the AAGP’s statement, saying that it was the third time Khawar had presented the same reason before the court.

It further asked him when would the draft bill be approved by the parliament. To this Khawar replied that he could not give the bench an exact date. In view of this statement, the court has sought a reply from the law secretary within 10 days. It asked the law secretary to apprise the prime minister about the delay in passing the bill.

Meanwhile, AAGP stated that there were a lot of pending issues, since the interim cantonment boards were not functional after September 15 last year. Upon this, the court allowed the federal government to extend the period of interim cantonment boards till February 6. It is to be noted that there are 53 cantonment areas, 13 of them small ones like Mangla, Pannu Aqil and Loralai.

Regarding Defence Secretary Asif Yasin’s contempt case, the court observed that he should have proven his bona fide intentions in this case, otherwise, it would proceed against him.

Earlier, the counsel for contemnor requested the bench to adjourn the contempt proceedings as his client was on a foreign tour. The court while allowing his request adjourned the hearing for ten days.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2014.