ISLAMABAD – Terming the sale of Bahawalpur lands solely a provincial matter, the Punjab government has rejected the concern expressed by the functional committee of the Senate on the problems of less developed areas vis-a-vis the sale of Bahawalpur lands at ‘throw-away prices’. “Under the existing federal scheme envisaged by the constitution, the provincial government and its various departments are not accountable to the Senate or its committees.
As a necessary corollary, the committee of the Senate has no jurisdiction or authority to examine or review any matter exclusively allocated to the provinces under the Constitution,” said a letter written by Tariq Mahmood Khan, member (colonies), Board of Revenue, Punjab, addressed to the secretary Senate. The Senate committee on less developed areas in its meeting, held here on Wednesday with Dr Abdul Malik in the chair, had expressed grave concern over the auctions of precious lands of Bahawalpur division at throw-away prices, deciding to conduct a thorough probe into the matter.
The Senate committee had rejected the notion of the Punjab government on the auction of lands worth above Rs 40 billion for a mere Rs 851 million, deciding to refer the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or some other competent forum.
“The Senate Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas does not have jurisdiction to review the matter of privatisation of the land,” added the latter. The Punjab government further said the Federal Government Rules of Business, 1973, provided that functional committee could be constituted by the National Assembly or the Senate to advise the divisions concerned on the general administrative policy or a special problem.
“This provision also makes it further clear that although a functional committee of the Senate has jurisdiction relating to the affairs of a division/ministry of the federal government, it is not constitutionally competent to extend its jurisdiction to the provincial matters,” added the letter. “The surplus land owned by the province is being privatised in public interest in a highly transparent manner under the Punjab Privatization Board Act 2010,” contended the Punjab government official.
