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Pioneering Efforts of the Lahore High Court Take Root: New Law Establishes Special Courts for Overseas Pakistanis

Oct 21,2024 Comments Off on Pioneering Efforts of the Lahore High Court Take Root: New Law Establishes Special Courts for Overseas Pakistanis By IALC

Ch. Imran Hassan Ali, ASC

In a significant legal development, Pakistan’s parliament has recently passed the Special Court (Overseas Pakistanis Property) Act, 2024, marking a major step in safeguarding the interests of overseas Pakistanis. This new law establishes Special Courts within the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to address property disputes involving Pakistanis living abroad, who play a crucial role in the country’s economy. The initiative follows the Lahore High Court’s successful establishment of the Overseas Pakistanis Cell in 2019, a move that has since been widely praised for its effectiveness in streamlining the legal process for this group.

The new law aims to address the unique challenges faced by overseas Pakistanis, who often struggle to attend court proceedings and pursue legal action from abroad. Under the legislation, they can now file petitions, submit responses, attend hearings, and record evidence remotely, via electronic means, ensuring they have equal access to legal recourse as those residing in Pakistan. Additionally, the law mandates that cases be decided within 90 days, and imposes a stringent condition: the respondent can only defend themselves in court if the Special Court grants them leave to do so.

The Lahore High Court has played a pivotal role in addressing issues related to overseas Pakistanis since 2019. After launching the Overseas Pakistanis Cell, the court established Special Benches to expedite the resolution of pending cases involving overseas nationals. Mr. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who was the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court at the time, took a personal interest in resolving these issues, convening meetings with stakeholders to identify challenges and seek solutions. This effort led to several key rulings, including the Tanveer Chishti vs. City Police Officer and others judgment reported at PLD 2020 Lahore 453, which set crucial precedent to protect the rights of overseas Pakistanis. In that landmark decision, the Honourable Mr. Justice Jawad Hassan emphasized that overseas Pakistanis are entitled to the same legal protections as residents, in line with Article 4 of the Constitution of Pakistan. He underlined that “Overseas Pakistanis, no matter wherever they may be, are subject to the same protection of law as every other Pakistani without any discrimination.” The judgment in Tanveer Chishti can be dowloaded from the Lahore High Court website by cliking here.

The Lahore High Court’s efforts have been recognized at the highest levels, including by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In the case of Haji Muhammad Younis etc. v. Mst. Farrukh Sultan and others (2022 SCMR 1282), the Supreme Court lauded the Lahore High Court’s initiatives and expressed the hope that other provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory would follow suit. Mr. Justice Yahya Afridi, in his ruling, acknowledged that overseas Pakistanis form a distinct class, and thus, should receive special legal protections based on this intelligible differentia.

With the introduction of the new law for the Islamabad Capital Territory, the pioneering efforts of the Lahore High Court are set to take root.

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Supreme Court orders closure of three stone crushing plants in KPK; Wants NEQS updated within three months

Jul 27,2024 Comments Off on Supreme Court orders closure of three stone crushing plants in KPK; Wants NEQS updated within three months By IALC

Ch. Imran Hassan Ali is representing the Petitioners in a Constitution Petition challenging the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Power Crusher Rules, 2020. Through these rules, the Government of KPK has reduced the safe distance for power crushers from places of human habitation from 1000 metres to 500 metres in urban areas and 300 metres in rural areas, which has created an environmentally disastrous situation for hundreds of thousands of people in the province of KPK.

On 15-06-2021, the Supreme Court accepted preliminary arguments of the Petitioners and issued notice to the Government of KPK. The Court also directed the relevant authorities to inspect the power crushers near Petitioners’ village to make sure that they are complying with the current national environmental quality standards. The Court also added the power crusher owners as respondents in the Constitution Petition.

On 06-04-2022, Imran submitted on behalf of the petitioners that the power crusher owners are harassing and intimidating the locals to make them sell their lands to them. He requested the Court to make an interim order to curb such coerced sales of land. The Court allowed the Petitioners’ request to place a moratorium on transfer of land around stone crushers in the area until further orders. This order will save the locals from undue harassment and pressure at the hands of unscrupulous power crusher owners.

On 25-04-2022, the Court decided to adopt an inquisitorial approach and appointed a special commission headed by the renowned environmental lawyer, Dr. Parvez Hassan, to inspect the operation of power crushers in KPK and to ensure compliance of environmental standards. The order can be downloaded by clicking here.

Further hearing of the case took place on 11-07-2024 and 12-07-2024. After lengthy and detailed hearing, the Supreme Court ordered immediate closure of three power crushers in village Suraj Galli, Tehsil Khanpur. The Court also directed the Government of KPK to file a detailed report about the status of almost 900 power crushers operating in the province of KPK. While noting that the existing National Environmental Quality Standards (“NEQS”) have become outdated, the Court also directed the Federal Government as well as all the Provincial Governments to update the NEQS/PEQS within a period of three months and submit their respective updated/revised EQS before the Court. The said order has been approved for reporting. It can be downloaded from the Supreme Court website by clicking here.

The power crusher owners are being represented by senior advocates Barrister Ch. Aitzaz Ahsan, Khawaja Haris Ahmad and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.

To watch coverage of this case by various TV and YouTube channels, please watch the following YouTube videos:

For print and electronic media coverage of this case, please click on the links below:

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Employees of Constitutional Bodies held entitled to allotment of plots in FGEHF schemes

Sep 30,2013 Comments Off on Employees of Constitutional Bodies held entitled to allotment of plots in FGEHF schemes By IALC

Ch. Imran Hassan Ali, Advocate, represented the successful appellants in an Intra-Court Appeal before a Division Bench of the Honourable Islamabad High Court. Two Appellants were Deputy Secretaries and one was Joint Secretary in the National Assembly Secretariat. They applied for allotment of plots in schemes developed by the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF). Their applications were rejected. FGEHF was of the view that emloyees of Constitutional Bodies like the National Assembly and Senate of pakistan etc. are not entitled to allotment of plots under FGEHF policy. The Appellants initially filed a Writ Petition, which was dismissed by a judge-in-chambers. They then engaged Ch. Imran Hassan Ali for an Intra-Court Appeal. They had retired in the meanwhile. The appeal was heard by a Division Bench on 30-09-2013, when it was allowed. The Court held that the employees of Constitutional Bodies, inlcuding the appellants, are entitled to allotment of plots in their respective categories.

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Supreme Court strikes down multiple Ordinances and Acts in a landmark judgment

Jun 10,2013 Comments Off on Supreme Court strikes down multiple Ordinances and Acts in a landmark judgment By IALC

Ch. Afrasiab Khan, ASC, represented the successful Petitioners and Appellants (all high ranking bureaucrats) in two Constitution Petitions and a Civil Appeal challenging, inter alia, the following pieces of legislation:

  1. The Sindh Civil Servants (Regularization of Absorption) Ordinance, 2011
  2. The Sindh Civil Servants (Regularization of Absorption) Act, 2011
  3. The Sindh Civil Servants (Amendment) Ordinance, 2012
  4. The Sindh Civil Servants (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2012
  5. The Sindh Civil Servants (Amendment) Act, 2013.
  6. The Sindh Civil Servants (Second Amendment) Act, 2013.

The Honourable Supreme Court declared that all these legislations are in violation of the Constitution. The Court also declared illegal all “absorptions” by the Government of Sindh since 1994. The Court futher declared that all out of turn promotions given under section 9-A of the Sindh Civil Servants Act, 1973, by the Government of Sindh to an employee or civil servant with or without antedated seniority since 22-01-2002, when section 9-A was inserted through Ordinance IV of 2002, are ultra vires of the Constitution.

The Honourable Supreme Court then directed: “A copy of this judgment be sent to the Chief Justice, Sindh High Court, through Registrar for circulating it amongst the learned judges. A copy of this judgment be also sent to all the Chief Secretaries of the Provinces as well as Secretary, Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan, with the direction to streamline the service structure of civil servants in line with the principles laid down in this judgment. The Chief Secretary and Secretary, Services, Sindh, are further required to comply with this judgment in letter and spirit and report compliance within three weeks.”

Honourable Mr. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa added a landmark additional note to the judgment, which reads: “It is true that the judicial precedent available thus far declares that mala fide cannot be attributed to the legislature but if a legislature deliberately and repeatedly embarks upon a venture to nullify considered judicial verdicts in an unlawful manner, trample the constitutional mandate and violate the law in the manner it was done in the presentcase then it is difficult to attribute bona fide to it either.”

The Respondents were represented by senior lawyers Dr. Farough Naseem, Anwar Mansoor Khan, Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, M.M. Aqil Awan and Khalid Javed etc..

The judgment is reported at 2013 SCMR 1752. A copy is also available on the Supreme Court website.

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Supreme Court strikes down Contempt of Court Act, 2012

Aug 3,2012 Comments Off on Supreme Court strikes down Contempt of Court Act, 2012 By IALC

The Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the Contempt of Court Act, 2012, as ultra vires of the Constitution. Ch. Afrasiab Khan, ASC, represented one of the Petitioners who had challenged the law. The judgment is reported as “Baz Muhammad Kakar and others vs. Federation of Pakistan etc.” (PLD 2012 SC 870)

For media coverage of the case, click below:

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