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Govt must ensure lives of people in Balochistan: CJ
RAWALPINDI: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Friday expressed concern over the recovery of decomposed bodies from Balochistan and failure of the democratic political government to resolve the law and order problems of the province.Addressing a seminar in Quetta, he said a larger bench of the Supreme Court would be constituted to resolve the issue of enforced disappearances and restoration of peace in Balochistan. The chief justice said the law and order situation in Balochistan was grave as there were reports of recovery of decomposed bodies from mountains and deserts of the province, ethnic and sectarian strife was on its peak and violence was on the rise.
He regretted the incidents of Mastung, Akhtarabad and Brewery Road when members of the Hazara community were killed. He said it is incomprehensible why the democratic government was not stepping in to establish peace.
He said the Supreme Court bench of Justice Shakirullah Jan was focusing on the problems of Balochistan while the Commission headed by Justice Javed Iqbal was taking note of target killings and other grave problems brought before the Balochistan High Court. He said keeping in view the situation in the province, a larger bench of the Supreme Court would be constituted to review the situation and collect evidence to ascertain why human rights were being continuously violated in Balochistan.
The chief justice said it was the responsibility of the federal government to persuade the provincial government to ensure the protection of human rights and take steps against their trampling. Regarding the missing persons, the CJ said out of 185 missing persons, 95 persons had been recovered while efforts were underway on a priority basis to trace the remaining ones. He said the people of Balochistan, including Quetta, couldn’t tolerate further violence and therefore the democratic government should immediately play its role in this regard.
Online adds: CJ Chaudhry said having a plethora of laws on any subject could never be a cure for problems; rather it was the will to implement and enforce these laws that served as the best solution. He said the 1973 Constitution empowered the central and provincial legislatures to formulate laws for the protection of its citizens but there was no specific provision therein on the protection of environment.
He said laws of nature were always just. He said every being, whether living or non-living, in this universe had been created by Almighty Allah to follow specific laws of nature. He said the environment in its simplest form could be termed a surrounding comprising living and non-living entities.
The Holy Quran has made it clear that every creature of this universe has two major purposes: a religious purpose evidencing the presence of its Maker and His infinite wisdom, grace and magnificence; and a social purpose to serve man and other beings. These divinely set standards and distribution of all creatures and elements lead to a dynamic balance in the ecosystem and environment, the CJ said.
The chief justice said human beings had been given superiority over all other creatures and elements of this universe by Almighty Allah on the basis of intellect, reason, logic and ability to judge between right and wrong. Therefore, it is incumbent upon man to protect the nature and not to disrupt the dynamic equilibrium set by god. Destruction, misuse or abuse and over-exploitation of natural resources are all transgressions against the divine scheme.
In Pakistan, environmental legislation covers a wide range of subjects, including hazardous substances, health, forestry, landscape, water, air, soil and land. The major legislation in this respect is the Environmental Protection Act 1997, which replaced the Environmental Protection Ordinance of 1983, the chief justice said.
He said laws on environmental protection might not be perfect but contained several useful provisions for ending environmental degradation. Indeed, the judiciary has always endeavoured to redress grievances pertaining to the environmental issues within the existing legal sphere. The Supreme Court, in the famous case of ‘Shehla Zia versus Wapda’ (PLD 1994 SC 693), has extended the scope of Article 9 of the Constitution to cover certain aspects of environmental pollution, he said.
He stressed that there was a need for the inclusion of environmental laws in the syllabi and legal education of all law schools and universities at the federal as well as provincial levels.
He underlined that provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had a range of mountainous areas and forests. These mountains and forests not only add to the beauty of nature but are also sources of rain, water, weather protection and livelihood. In Pakistan, the cutting of forest trees, burning of trees and installation of crusher machines often go unheeded and unchecked by the executive authorities, he said.
The chief justice said there was a need for proper legislation whereby the installation of crusher machines privately or publicly, could be checked and regulated, ensuring that they do not pose any threat to the environment. He said a wide range of mountainous areas of the country have been reduced to plain lands for financial purposes. Instead of mountains, gravel or natural habitat having springs and brooks can be utilised as sources for sand and rockery.
Courtesy www.geo.tv