Ehtesab Commission: Questions raised on legality of institution

PESHAWAR:

Violations in the appointment of the director general and commissioners of the Ehtesab Commission (EC) were highlighted on Wednesday. Petitioners’ lawyers claimed all actions taken by EC so far were unconstitutional.

A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court Mazhar Alam Miankhe, heard the K-P Ehtesab Commission Act 2015 case.

The lawyers, including Mudasir Ameer, Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah and Muazzam Butt, continued their arguments over the conflict between K-P ECA 2015 and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 1999.

Arguing over the delayed notification of the EC, Ameer said the commission was set up on January 18, 2014 while the notification was issued in September 2015. “The executive has no authority to give retrospective effects to the act to investigate cases from 2004.

This job was reserved for the provincial assembly to carry out through amendments,” contended Ameer. He maintained even if the effect was given under the ‘doctrine of necessity,’ it was not legal since Supreme Court declared it extra-constitutional.

Qazi Jawad, giving examples of various countries, argued introducing another law of a similar nature to a currently implemented law creates problems. “Departments of anti-corruption and NAB are already present for containing corruption.” Jawad added the EC was set up on a simple executive order (notification) in September 2015 but the notification is yet to be published in the official gazette. Jawad said there were several judgments in which verbal actions were given no legal status.

Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik informed the bench there was a year and nine month’s gap between the EC’s establishment and issuance of notification that illustrates flaw in the law.

“As most of the [ECA] sections were copied from NAO, this proved an existing department dealt with corruption. Thus there was no need to establish the EC,” said Ghulam Mohiuddin. He contended there were four anti-corruption laws currently working in the country, which confused people on legitimacy of their trials and punishments.

Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousafzai, while defending K-P ECA, said that after 18th Amendment the concurrent list had been abolished and provinces have the right to make laws for its province. The hearing was adjourned till Thursday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th,  2015.