No need for Parliament’s approval: SC allows govt to use funds for uplift schemes

However, bench observes that no discretionary grant shall be granted either by PM or any minister.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has allowed the federal government to release funds for development projects if “it is a scheme of national or public interest” without taking parliament’s approval, which was required after the court’s December 5, 2013 judgment.

The court, while issuing a notice to the finance secretary and the Auditor General for Pakistan, however observed that no discretionary grant shall be granted either by the prime minister or any minister.

The three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, was hearing a federal government review petition against the December 5, 2013 judgment that had banned the transfer of funds from an account approved by parliament to another as a technical supplementary grant.

This ruling curtailed the government’s discretionary powers, which are often used in May and June, before the next budget is announced.

To legalise its move for the re-appropriation of billions of rupees for the Metro Bus service and other projects, the government on Monday submitted a plea seeking an early hearing of its review petition against the court’s ruling.

The government, in its review petition, mainly challenged the last line of paragraph 39 of the court’s judgement, which says, “Rule 197 of the Rules of the Procedure, 2007, indicates that in the case of supplementary grants, the assent of the National Assembly is to be obtained before these funds are made available”.

It also submitted a list of 38 projects that it said required an immediate allocation of an additional Rs12.5 billion before the close of the current fiscal year.

The AGP pointed out that the top court, in the last line of the judgement, has made an observation, which is not only a violation of Article 84 but also not in consonance with paragraphs 31 and 39 of the same order.

After hearing the Attorney General’s arguments, the bench found that the constitutional intent reflected in Article 84 is explicit in authorising the government to use the expenditure from the funds indicated therein.

The bench then allowed the government to allocate the funds for “the development schemes of national or public interest”.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2014.