Notification on commission to investigate Thar deaths suspended

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) suspended on Tuesday the operation of the provincial government's notification regarding the formation of a commission to probe the causes of recent deaths in the drought-hit areas of Thar.

Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, who headed the bench, also directed the advocate-general to file comments explaining why the chief secretary, Sajjad Salim Hotiana, had notified the commission on his own instead of proposing names of members for the commission to the court.

Last week, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) had filed a miscellaneous application under Sections 3, 6 and 12 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 read with the article 204 of the Constitution.

Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Piler's representative, said that the court while considering a proposal to form a judicial commission to mitigate and resolve issues faced by the Tharis had on April 11 directed those representing the petitioners along with the advocate-general (AG), the deputy attorney-general and other law officers to suggest the composition and mandate of the proposed commission.

However, the petitioners were informed that in a deliberate and malafide attempt to  undermine and violate the order dated April 11 and to subvert the formation of a commission by the high court, the alleged contemnor had issued directives for formation of a so-called judicial commission, said to be comprising of three members, including former judges.

Lawyer Faisal Siddiqui, who represents the petitioners, alleged that the directives issued by the alleged contemnor regarding formation of the commission were a deliberate attempt to subvert the orders of the court passed in this case.

Siddiqui pleaded the court punish the alleged contemnor - Hotiana, for consciously and deliberately undermining and violating the court's April 11 order.

On Tuesday, AG Abdul Fateh Malik waived the notice in court and sought an adjournment so that he could file comments to the contempt plea by the next date of hearing. The bench also ordered that the operation of the notification would remain suspended till May 15.

Meanwhile, the bench took on record a report submitted by the Sindh relief commissioner on the distribution of wheat to the drought-hit families. According to the report, 241 persons have died while 2,069 cattle perished since the famine hit. Out of the allocated 131,721 bags of wheat, 126,790 bags have been distributed so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2014.