News
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Sindh govt against SC revisiting verdict on land reformsBy Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: After the Punjab government, the PPP-led Sindh government has also opposed the Supreme Court (SC) revisiting its December 14, 1991 judgement, which had declared land reforms introduced by PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto “un-Islamic”.
A 10-member bench of the court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, resumed the hearing of the petition filed by Workers Party Pakistan, seeking a review of the decision which had held land reforms of 1972 and 1977 and related regulations as “un-Islamic” in the Qizalbash Waqf case.
The decision, which came as relief for the landlords, has virtually blocked the possibility of any further land reforms in the country. Legal experts believe that it would be interesting to see whether the incumbent PPP Sindh government supports this petition or not.
In 1990, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) had declared land reforms Islamic. It did not have the jurisdiction to examine MLR 115 and LRA 1977, as they were protected by articles 24 and 253 of the constitution.
But the FSC judgement was appealed before the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court by the Qizalbash Waqf. The court, comprising three Supreme Court judges and two clerics, accepted the appeal and said that it had jurisdiction to examine whether or not land reforms were Islamic and it did not matter that in declaring them un-Islamic, some provisions of the constitution would be affected and rendered nugatory.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Sindh Advocate General (AG) Khalid Javed Khan objected that petition about revisiting the court’s December 14, 1991 judgment was not maintainable and the matter had already been decided. He also told the bench that he would file a concise statement on behalf of Sindh government very soon.
It has been learnt that Khalid Javed Khan has given the statement on the instruction of Sindh government as PPP leaders believe that socialism has failed all over the world and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had herself disowned several policies of party’s founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
On the other hand, senior PPP lawyers have expressed concern over the U-turn taken by PPP’s Sindh government to oppose land reforms, which were introduced by the party founder. They said that feudal politicians had occupied the PPP.
Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, a lawyer, said that it seemed that the PPP government had mistrust over its founder’s policies.
Meanwhile, during the hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Munir A Malik contended before the bench that the petition regarding land reform was maintainable as the Supreme Court had the authority to review the judgement against land reforms.
The AGP said that he would file federation’s stance after getting instructions from the authorities concerned. On the other hand, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments requested the bench to give them further time for submitting reply on the maintainability of the petition. The hearing of case was adjourned for a week.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk