Funding coming for terrorism not being plugged: SC

ISLAMABAD: Justice Jawwad S Khawaja of the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday remarked that hue and cry was being raised about terrorism in the country but no action was being taken to plug the funds coming for the purpose.
He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government did not know which law would be applicable for the registration of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the same was the situation in other provinces.
He said the Clause 6 of the National Action Plan (NAP) referred to the measures to be taken to stop the funding to terror outfits but the NAP had not held its meeting despite the fact that it was adopted seven months ago.
The three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and comprising Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Maqbool Baqar, took up the case on the NGOs registration on Wednesday.
The federal and provincial governments filed their reports in the Supreme Court with regard to the NGOs operating in the country.The deputy attorney general filed the report with reference to Islamabad. As per the report, 635 NGOs are functioning under the Society Act and 494 NGOs under the Social Welfare Act in Islamabad.
The Punjab’s additional advocate general filed a report on NGOs working in the province. As per the report 7,516 NGOs are working in the Punjab under this act. The registration and regulation of NGOs is done by the Social Welfare Department and Baitul Mal. Several NGOs are operating without the cover of social welfare laws in the Punjab. These NGOs are working under the Society Trust Act, Companies Ordinance and other laws. The annual audit of these NGOs is conducted.
KP’s additional advocate general also filed a report wherein it was stated that over 10,000 NGOs were functioning in the province. There is no method of watching from where these NGOs get foreign aid.
Sindh’s additional advocate general told the court through his report that over 1,500 NGOs were working in the province. The SC bench showed its dissatisfaction over the reports submitted by the Federation and the provinces by saying that no relevant law was in place to monitor the funding to these NGOs. It said that only the Federation had mentioned the relevant law and told the court that the NGOs carried out their functions in Pakistan after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Economic Affairs Division, which was responsible for monitoring funding to these NGOs.
The bench maintained that the provinces had referred to the law which was ambiguous and its implementation was non-existent.Justice Jawwad S Khawja said that the federal and provincial governments had no valid information about the NGOs while the US had complete information about Pakistan.The SC, seeking a comprehensive report on the NGOs, their funding and government oversight and role, adjourned the case hearing till today (Wednesday).