Two identical constitutional petitions – filed against the restoration of commissionerate system and the Land Revenue Act in Sindh – were withdrawn by the petitioners from the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday.
The counsels for the petitioners, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Ajmal Dehlvi and others, appeared before the court and filed the withdrawal applications as the previously abolished Local government Ordinance 2001 was restored.
Supporting the local government system of 2001, the petitioners Ajmal Dehlvi and other MQM leaders had stated that the system formulated by former ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf was more beneficial for the masses and progressive projects would be stopped with the restoration of the commissionerate system.
Similarly, another writ petition was filed by Advocate Iqbal Haider, chairman of the Awami Himayat Tehreek Pakistan in the apex court against the revival of the commissionerate system. Haider argued that the system is a violation of several articles of the constitution including Article 140-A, 14, 9, 5 and 15.
The Sindh government had earlier issued three ordinances, restoring the local government system put in place by the administration of former president Gen Ziaul Haq and the police system imposed by the first Viceroy of India, Lord Charles Canning.
The petitioner stated that in the light of the constitution’s Article 140, provincial assemblies did not have the power to abolish the local government system as the local government ordinance was enforced after approval from the parliament.
It is pertinent to mention that a constitutional petition, filed by senior lawyer Shabeer Shar, had also been filed in Sindh High Court Sukkur Bench against the revival of the nazim System and the changing the status of Karachi to one district.
The high court declared the petition as maintainable and issued notices to the advocate general and other respondents.
With the promulgation of the Local Government Ordinance 2001, the office of the commissioner was done away with and his revenue judicial functions were entrusted to lower-level functionaries who were under the direct control of the zila Nazims. The Nazims more often did not care to distinguish between their political and administrative role. A frequent overlap of these roles in turn affected the working of these revenue judicial officers. It was overlooked that in a steeply factionalised Pakistani society the nazim was the repository of both development and regulatory functions and also controlled a hierarchy of officials dealing with revenue judicial matters. In 10 years, the revenue administration saw a marked deterioration resulting in serious dysfunctionalities. The Nazim system did throw up enviable names like Niamatullah Khan and Syed Mustafa Kamal, but at the same time, the commissioner system reminds us of its own prodigies. It is difficult to forget the names of Zafarul Ahsan, Musarrat Hussain Zubairi and many others who left deep imprints on the public mind during their careers.
Zafarul Ahsan is remembered as the builder of modern Lahore, he laid the foundation of new habitats and was the spirit behind the settlement and development of vast barren tracts of ‘Thal’ in western Punjab. Musarrat Hussain Zubairi’s name has been part of the folklore in the desolate expanses of Cholistan. The Rohilas of Cholistan, hitherto nomads, got a taste of settled life owing to his resolute efforts. Commissionerate system is thousand times better than that of Local Government where most of the un-educated, authoritative and diehards of political parties pushed most of the areas in further backwardness, poverty and ignorance. Even people failed to differentiate between feudal lords and Nazim, the way they treated people of area. Local Govt system is a flop system and it is no more workable.
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