District judges cannot act as HR directors: SHC

Karachi
The Sindh High Court held on Saturday that district and sessions judges lacked the jurisdiction to entertain and pass orders on public complaints in the capacity of the apex human rights director.
The order came on petition of a natural gas company which challenged a notice issued by the Umerkot district and sessions judge on complaint against the lack of service in the district headquarters.
The judge had issued the notice in the capacity of the director of the Supreme Court’s human rights cell.
The apex court had conferred the powers to the sessions judges to act as the directors of its human rights cell, entertain public complaints and pass appropriate orders on them.
The Umerkot district and session judge received an application from advocate Shareef Bheel, who had sought directives for the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited to provide gas to the district headquarters.
The company’s managing director and senior general manager were ordered to personally appear before the court and submit their comments by May 23 last year.
The gas utility challenged the impugned notice in the high court. The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the Umerkot district and sessions had no jurisdiction to entertain such applications.
He also referred to a case of “City Circle Gepco Limited Director versus Shahid Mir” wherein the apex court had struck down a similar order passed by the Sialkot sessions judge ostensibly deriving inspiration from the famous “Quetta Declaration”.
The court observed that the judge had not appreciated that by virtue of Article 175(2) of the constitution, “no court shall have any jurisdiction save as is or may be conferred on it by the constitution or by or under any law”.
The court further observed that the capacity of a human rights director assumed and exercised by the judge in the matter was not conferred upon him by the constitution or by or under any law.
Disposing of the petition, the court held that the Umerkot district and sessions judge had no jurisdiction to entertain the application.
The court also directed the SHC registrar to issue a circular to all district and sessions judges in the province to follow these guidelines in all similar matters.