ISLAMABD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday constituted a four-member commission comprising former bureaucrats to probe the case of unauthorized diversion of floodwater and breaches in the embankments of barrages and canals by influential people to save their lands during the devastating floods.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing a suo motu case coupled with pleas against the diversion of floodwaters allegedly made to save the lands of influential people of Sindh and Balochistan.
The commission consists of former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary Azam Khan, former Sindh chief secretary A.K Lodhi, former federal secretary Fateh Khan Fajak (from Balochistan) and former Punjab chief secretary Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed.
The court directed all the provincial chief secretaries to provide the commission with logistic support. It has also directed the Cabinet Division secretary to cooperate with the commission members and provide them with logistic as well as financial support.
The court also directed the surveyor general of Pakistan to provide assistance to the commission besides directing the secretaries of the irrigation department to instruct their staff concerned to coordinate with the commission during its meetings.
The secretary information and the PEMRA chairman have been directed to provide the commission with full print and electronic media reports over the matter. The court held that the secretary information would be responsible for issuance of advertisements as required by the commission.
The court said the commission would be empowered like a judicial commission. It further said the commission would have powers to summon witnesses, record their statements and also summon and examine the required record and evidence.
The court also announced that Qazi Sajid Mahmood, additional registrar of the Supreme Court, would work as a facilitator to the commission. The court asked the commission to submit its report to the court after two months and adjourned further hearing for an indefinite period.
