Sindh wants its army of advisers back

The provincial government on Thursday filed a review appeal in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against an earlier decision barring it from appointing more than five advisers to the chief minister (CM) and handing them portfolios.
A division bench of the SHC, comprising of Chief Justice Musheer Alam and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, allowed the review plea that was filed on behalf of the provincial government by Additional Advocate-General Adnan Karim. The provincial government is now arguing that the CM has a constitutional right to appoint advisers and allot portfolios to them. He pleaded with the court to review its prior judgment that had declared the appointment of more than five advisers as illegal.
The SHC’s division bench has summoned Alf Jatoi, the man who had filed the original petition. Jatoi is a representative of the Sindh Dost Rabita Council, and had argued in his petition that there were 17 advisers on the Sindh government’s payroll but most of them were not experts, and further, that the constitution did not allow for more than five advisers.
While the appeal was admitted on Thursday but a date for hearing will be fixed later.
Verdict in the original case had been handed down on May 30, in which the court had ordered the Sindh government to restrict the number of advisers to five. Jatoi had argued before the court that the Sindh CM had violated the constitution by appointing more than five advisers and awarding them portfolios. He contended that the provincial government was neither eligible to appoint more than five advisers nor could it allot them portfolios.
The petitioner’s position was that the purpose of appointing advisers was to get professional and expert opinion from highly-qualified persons on specialised matters for which the government lacked expertise. He argued that the incumbent advisers did not possess the requisite expertise in any field, and had been appointed on the basis of favouritism and nepotism. He had further argued that since the advisers were unelected, they were responsible to no one but were being paid exorbitant sums in salaries and perks.
The Sindh advocate-general had responded to the petitioner’s arguments by submitting a statement from the provincial government, which claimed that the CM had reduced number of advisers to five and none of them had been given any portfolio.  
MILK PRICES: The SHC on Thursday repeated notices to the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), Dairy Farmers Association and other respondents seeking explanation over the hike in milk prices.
While hearing a constitutional petition filed by Rana Faiz-ul-Hassan seeking restriction the retailers for increasing the milk price, a division bench of the SHC, comprising Chief Justice Musheer Alam and Justice Syed Azhar Rizvi, ordered the respondents to appear before the court at the next hearing and submit their comments.
The petitioner submitted that retailers were not ready to sell milk at prices fixed by the CDGK, and were illegally charging exorbitant profits from consumers. In March, milk prices were increased by Rs 10 per kilogramme in violation of the government’s decision, the petitioner said, adding that the CDGK also failed to ensure implementation of its decisions. He said that yogurt is being sold at Rs 90 per kilogramme, also in violation of the government’s decision.
At the last hearing, the court had heard arguments from the petitioner and summoned the respondents to submit their comments, but they failed to do so.
Earlier the CDGK counsel had appeared before the court and submitted that the city government had initiated talks with the Dairy Farmers Association and was trying to convince them to reduce milk prices. He maintained that talks between both parties may reach a conclusion very soon, and the matter will likely be resolved within a few days.
Sindh chief secretary, Karachi administrator, CDGK district coordination officer, Karachi Dairy Farmers Owners Association President Haji Akhtar and Nagori Dairy Farmers Association President Sikandar Nagori have been cited as respondents.