by Usman Manzoor in The News, Dec 23
ISLAMABAD: The senior most judge of the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), in an unprecedented decision, has declared the ‘monitoring cell’ created by the AJK chief justice as unconstitutional.
He held this while passing an order after hearing a case of collecting examination and registration fee from the students of the quake-hit areas. Explaining the difference between the monitoring cell ordered by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its NRO verdict and that in AJK, one of the senior constitutional office-holders of AJK told The News that the monitoring cell proposed by the SC of Pakistan was a positive thing as it would monitor the functioning of the courts and not of the executive while the monitoring cell established in AJK was directly monitoring the executive, which by no means could be allowed.
“The monitoring mechanism referred by the 17-member SC bench already exists and this will improve the performance of lower courts,” said the official, adding: “The monitoring cell in AJK was directly affecting the executive.”
Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gilani, while pronouncing an order on the Civil PLA 199 of 2009, mentioned: “The so-called order of the monitoring cell is just a waste paper and so be ignored. Any civil servant, who submits to this jurisdiction is equally guilty of subverting the constitutional and legal system.”
The order further sates: “In view of the government notification dated 16-12-2006, whereby the government has directed that in view of the earthquake dated 8-10-2005 the students belonging to the affected districts Bagh, Poonch, Muzaffarabad and Neelam are exempted from all kind of fee, including the examination fee.
“As far the argument of the monitoring cell that had ordered that registration/affiliation fee is to be recovered from the concerned college, I am sorry to give heed to any such thing, as there is no such authority in the name of monitoring cell under the constitution of AJK or any such order is ab initio non-entity under the scheme of the Constitution and law and no person or authority is bound to follow or act upon or to comply with any such order, irrespective of the fact whether it is issued in the name of any court or judge of the high court or Supreme court, as the jurisdiction of the courts is regulated by Section 46(4) of the AJ&K Interim constitution Act, 1974, not by the personal whims of the judges or courts. Any act, howsoever, noble it may be if done without lawful authority, is as bad and mala fide, as an ignoble or illegal act done decently or clemently. It stands on the same footing as is being done by miscreants in the name of Allah and Islam in Malakand and Waziristan by taking law in their own lands.” http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=26241
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