Wajihuddin seeks SC direction for smooth census

ISLAMABAD: A former judge of Supreme Court (SC), Justice (retd) Wajhiuddin Ahmad has requested the apex court to direct all provincial and the federal departments not to hinder the process of population census as none of the provincial governments are serious in the matter, though for different reasons.

The retired judge has said through the petition that the federal government is engaged in a mechanical exercise, solely because it has to honour its undertaking before the apex court. The sardars and Khans of Balochistan and KP feel threatened that once their burgeoning populations are quantified, their own lavish and luxurious lifestyles would come under scrutiny, he said.

A press release issued in this respect says, “The Sindh government, which exclusively represents rural Sindh, is determined to inflate the numbers in rural areas and decimate those in urban Sindh. While in Punjab population growth is on a declining graph and the smaller provinces are registering rising percentages of population growth, it suits the majority province to put the census exercise on a back burner. In the other alternative, Punjab would neither be able to retain its majority 148 seats in the National assembly nor get a lion’s share in the federal resources because all that is population based. Resultantly, roles would be reversed, Punjab getting less and the smaller provinces getting entitled to more. In the scenario, spurious arguments are being raised and reported.”

Specific to Balochistan, there is a lot of hue and cry that because of the disturbed law and order situation there, many of the Baloch have shifted to Sindh and Punjab. Even if this be so, such Baloch may be counted whereever they physically be. Yet a petition stands filed and admitted in the Balochistan High Court.

In this background, the Aam Loeg Itehad (ALI), through its Acting Chairman, the retired Supreme Court Judge, has, inter alia, prayed to the Supreme Court to exercise its jurisdiction under Articles 184(3) and 187 of the Constitution and pass such orders as deemed fit in the interests of justice.'