SC issues interim order in Karachi law and order implementation case

ISLAMABAD: A larger bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued its interim order in the Karachi law and order implementation case., Geo News reported.

The order, which was brought into black and white on November 28, spans over ten pages.

Here are some highlights of the interim order.

The order says there stands no constitutional hurdle in the way of fresh delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.

“The Article 51(5) of Constitution and Section 7 (2) of Delimitation Act did not forestall the court observation in this regard”, the order said.

According to the order’s subject matter the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP,) Ishtiaque Ahmed, has informed the court that the delimitation of constituencies was underway as per SC order.

The secretary also said the court would be updated on the progress in this regard after the ECP took all the stakeholders on board, the order added.

The court order also said the administrative precincts for all the police stations in Karachi have been demarcated, adding no new measures were required for the Revenue except for District West.

Regarding prisoners, the order said the Prosecutor General, MIT, and Sindh High Court had informed the SC that the record of parole for convicts and those prisoners whose cases were sub judice was incomplete.

Going forward the order said that all authorities mentioned above had assured SC of not only taking the accused to task but also producing a complete report before the court.

On the record of land transfers in the city, the court rejected a reply submitted by a senior Board of Revenue member as dissatisfactory.

According to the order the court had barred the land department from using plain registers for transfers ordering them to use only printed registers henceforward.

Ordering the establishment of a separate cell for archiving the record of revenue department, the court said the land revenue department record was never reproduced after a fire in the office consumed most of it. This absence of land record had been encouraging illegal squatting in the city, which in turn is adding to the deteriorating law and order situation in record, the order said.

The order also said that if deemed necessary the cases of those who dented the national exchequer by grabbing the lands illegally should be sent to National Accountability Board.