SHC admits petition against 13 federal ministries that should be with Sindh
The petition was filed by Munir A Naich, Ali Sher Jatoi, Ahmed Ali, Alif Hazoor Bux and Muhammed Hassan against 13 federal ministries and three top officials of the Pakistan Railways for holding their respective offices without lawful authority and exercising federal powers within the jurisdiction of the province.
The petitioners appealed to the court to order the abolition of all the ministries of the respondents at the federal level because the subject of the portfolios should be with the province.
The petitioners’ counsel, advocate Zamir Ghummro, requested the court to direct the government to devolve all resources being spent on the ministries occupied by the respondents to the provincial governments. He submitted that the portfolios allotted to the members of the cabinet appallingly include residual subjects (part of the now-abolished concurrent list) of the provinces, which is contrary to Articles 97, 137 and 142 of the Constitution.
He stated that the parliament or the federal government had no lawful mandate to exercise legislative or executive authority over subjects in the concurrent list.
Ghummro submitted that the Railway Police were occupying the offices and exercising executive authority within the province without any lawful authority because the subjects administered by them were solely provincial under Article 142 of the Constitution.
He maintained that the constitutional scheme of the 1973 Constitution envisages both provincial as well as federal cabinets and the executive authority of the federation extends only to subjects enumerated in the federal legislative list and concurrent list.
He stated that under Article 142 of the Constitution, the residual subjects not mentioned in the federal legislative list or the concurrent legislative list solely belonged to the provinces but many residual subjects had been retained by the cabinet, illegally exercising executive authority over these subjects in total disregard of the Constitution and the law.
The counsel contended that the induction of ministers, which was not enumerated in the lists, amounts to the usurpation of the executive and legislative authority of the provinces and was in clear disregard of Article 137 as well as the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
He submitted that the subject of Railways Police had been a provincial right from 1935 through the Government of India Act, 1935.
He contended that the federal government has no authority to create and establish ministries of the subjects which solely belong to the provinces.
The petitioner prayed the court “to order [the] abolition of all ministries of respondents at the federal government level along with all secretaries and other officials”.
The bench has fixed no date for the next hearing yet.
Respondents cited by petitioners:
Federal cabinet secretary
Sindh chief secretary
Federal local government minister
Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammed Gondal
Federal Minister for Livestock Humayun Kurd
Federal housing minister Rehmat Ullah Kakar
Federal Minister for Sports Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani
Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti
Federal Minister for Youth Affairs Shahid Hussain Bhutto
Federal health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin
State minister for health Muhammed Afzal Sandhu
State minister for local government Masood Abbas
State minister for food and agriculture Rafique Ahmed Jamali
State minister for housing Muhammed Tariq Anees
Land Commission of Pakistan chairman Fazal Shah Jilani
Railways Police inspector-general Asghar Raza Gardezi
Railways Police DIG Anwar Virk
Railways Police superintendent Chaudhry Muzaffar
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2010.
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