Supreme Court seeks reports on Balochistan’s law and order situation

Expressing concerns over the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a report from the federal government on how the Balochistan government was still operating despite the October 12 interim order.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary resumed the hearing of petition filed by the Balochistan Bar Association on the law and order situation in the province.

During the hearing, the bench expressed its displeasure of the failure of the interior secretary to submit a report on the province’s law and order situation.

Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that the issue was serious and warned against its careless handling. The deputy attorney general said that Attorney General Irfan Qadir wanted to present his arguments on the matter.

Responding to which, the chief justice said that the bench had summoned the report, adding that, the arguments would be heard later.

The chief justice moreover remarked that everyone with authority was involved in the violation the Constitution in Balochistan.

He further said that if the Constitution was not being implemented in the province then under what authority was the Balochistan government operating.

The attorney general moreover stated that the government would file a review petition against the court’s interim order which had stated the provincial government had failed to establish the writ of law and had lost the authority to govern the province in accordance with the Constitution.

In response, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that currently the Balochistan hearing was underway and if the AG felt so strongly about it, he could bring up the Punjab case in court.

The chief justice said that the government of Balochistan had failed to enforce the constitution, adding that after the interim order, it cannot continue to spend funds from the national exchequer.

“How is it [Balochistan government] still operating? It should have been dissolved,” he said.

On the court’s orders, Additional Advocate General Balochistan Azam Khattak read out the interim order’s para 48.

Qadir argued saying that the government cannot be dissolved like this, to which Justice Jawwad S Khawaja replied saying Qadir had no authority on this matter and the federal government should give an explanation.

The hearing was adjourned till November 2 after Khattak requested for it due to a cabinet meeting underway.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 31 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.