Karachi: The question of inadequate appointment for the authority of the Indo River System (IRSA) served as a basis for an order of the Superior Court of Sindh (SHC), which on Monday restricted to the authority and other other additional action on the planned construction of new channels in the Indo River.
A bank of two judges comprised of Judge Muhammad Faisal Kamal Alam and Judge Jawad Akbar Sarwana granted 10 days to the respondents to be able to submit their comments, after the federal and provincial law officers sought more time to present comments parapisos on behalf of the respondents.
A Sindh producer, Qurban Maitlo, had transferred the SHC last month against the appointment of the federal member of IRSA, Asjad Imtiaz Ali, claiming that the appointment was made in clear violation of existing policies, as well as an earlier judgment of the SHC on the matter.
Citing the secretaries of the establishment and water resources divisions, the president of IRSA, the secretary of the IRSH Irrigation Department and the federal member of IRSA as respondents, the petitioner also assaulted the water availability certificate issued by IRSA for the construction of new channels in the Indo River.
The petitioner says that the federal member not appointed according to the policy, or in line with the ruling of the previous court
The petitioner had affirmed that, in view of the drought conditions witnessed in Sindh during the period 1999-2002, a policy decision was made through an executive order in July 2000 that the federal member of IRSA must be from Sindh, to safeguard the interests of the province, which was the lowest.
The lawyer of the Petitioner Barríster Zamir Ghumro emphasized that the current composition of IRSA did not agree with the Law of Authority of the Indo River System, 1992 and the Executive Order issued on July 10, 2000, which was also affirmed by the SHC in a previous trial transmitted in 2017.
The petitioner also said that, since IRSA’s composition was illegal, he could not issue the contested water availability certificate for the construction of phase II channels of Cholistan and Thal.
In his order, the bank said that the petitioner’s statement seemed to be correct since IRSA was supposed to be of Sindh, but the headline did not.
The bank also pointed out that during the hearing, the respondents had not played the fact that the member in question was not from the province of Sindh.
“The current structure of the IRSA is under a serious dispute. In these circumstances, and when observing the sensitivity of the problem, the property requires that respondents should not take any measurements and additional measures in the presence of the previous water availability certificate dated 25.01.2025,” said the order.
The Court also observed that article 155 of the Constitution provided a mechanism for the resolution of disputes, including the appointment of the expert commission.
Article 155 extends the scope of the Common Interest Council to resolve disputes between the Federation and the Federal Units on their Water Rights of any natural source and authorizes the Government to file a complaint. In a consultation of the judges, General defender Sindh Jawad Dero said that the previous provision has been invoked. The audience was postponed until April 18.
Disregard notices
Another bank of the SHC division also issued notices to the secretaries for water resources and establishment divisions, in a request that seeks proceedings for contempt against them to fail to comply with an earlier order by the SHC.
A constitutional bank of two judges, which is included in Judge Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Judge Adnanul Karim Memon, also addressed the Secretary of Water Resources, Ali Murtaza, and the Secretary of Establishment Inamullah Dharejo who appeared on May 7, along with his answers.
The petitioner Ghulam Abbas Leghari submitted an application for contempt before SHC, stating that he had submitted a petition in 2013, in which the SHC had ruled in May 2017 that IRSA’s federal member must take from Sindh.
However, the petitioner said that this sentence was disobeyed when Asjad Imtiaz Ali was appointed federal member in 2019.
Posted in Dawn, April 8, 2025
