ISLAMABAD: A resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly rejecting a presidential ordinance for the development of Bundal and Buddo islands along the Sindh coast in the Arabian Sea carries political weight but has no legal or constitutional bearing.
“This resolution does not affect the validity of the Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) Ordinance. A federal ordinance stands quashed only if either the Senate or the National Assembly passes a disapproving resolution but the instant motion of the provincial assembly has no legal effect,” prominent lawyer Omar Sajjad told The News when contacted.
Another constitutional expert referred to Article 89 of the Constitution, which deals with the presidential ordinances. It says an ordinance will stand repealed if before the expiration of its initial 120 days life, a resolution disapproving it is passed by the Senate or the National Assembly, upon its passing. The National Assembly may by a resolution extend an ordinance for a further period of 120 days, but this could be done only once.
He said there were no time constraints on the parliament to pass a disapproving resolution after the promulgation of the ordinance. He said in the recent past, the Senate had approved such motions, nullifying the ordinances issued by the present government.
The expert said a provincial assembly had immense powers in regard to even a constitutional amendment aimed at altering the limits of the concerned province. He said under Article 239, a bill to amend the Constitution, which would have the effect of altering the limits of a province will not be presented to the president for assent unless it had been passed by the concerned provincial assembly by the votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership. He said such a constitutional amendment bill, even after its approval by the National Assembly and the Senate, will be inconsequential if the provincial assembly does not pass it with a massive majority. Thus, it is a kind of a check on the parliament by the provincial assembly when the limits of the concerned province are to be changed. The PIDA ordinance promulgated on August 31 was not made public more than a month following its issuance. When it became public knowledge, the Sindh government started making huge hue and cry. The ordinance gave the PIDA, which is yet to be established, power to initiate and maintain a continuous process of reclamation and urban planning and identify immovable properties and projects suitable for the development of schemes within internal waters and territorial waters (Bundal and Buddo islands) of Pakistan.
The Sindh Assembly on Wednesday approved a resolution discarding the PIDA ordinance. The development happened amid the boycott of the opposition parties including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P). However, a PTI lawmaker, and the legislators belonging to the Grand Democratic Alliance, which is an ally of the PTI at the federal level, voted against the ordinance. Apparently being aware of the legal efficacy of the move, the resolution urged the central government to withdraw the ordinance and said it was in violation of Article 97, which says subject to the Constitution, the federal executive authority will extend to the matters with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws, including exercise of rights, authority and jurisdiction in and in relation to areas outside Pakistan. However, such authority will not, save as expressly provided in the Constitution or in any law, extend in any province to a matter with respect to which the provincial assembly has also power to make laws.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah termed the ordinance unconstitutional and against the integrity of Sindh, and said the president can issue an ordinance but cannot do it unconstitutionally. The representatives of the federal government didn’t even know the names of islands, he believed.