Sindh to enact law for obtaining heir certificates from Nadra

KARACHI: Considering the lengthy process of obtaining administration letters and succession certificates from court in cases of property inheritance, the Sindh government has decided to enact the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill 2020 so that they can be issued directly by the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).

The decision was taken on Wednesday during a meeting of the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House. The meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, the chief executive’s law adviser, the chief secretary and the chairman of the Planning and Development Board.

The Law Department presented an item of law enactment in respect of administration letters and succession certificates. The CM’s Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab said administration letters and succession certificates are currently being issued by component courts having jurisdiction under the Succession Act 1925. He said that issuance of administration letters and succession certificates from court is a lengthy process. A law can be enacted as has been done by the federal government to expedite the mechanism and facilitate the applicants, as well as to curtail fraud and forgery in the process, he added.

Under the proposed law, the heirs of a deceased person will be able to apply for succession directly to Nadra to obtain their administration letters and succession certificates. The cabinet approved the draft of the law and referred it to the provincial assembly.

The school education department told the cabinet that 2,000 principals of public schools had been appointed on contractual basis through the Sukkur IBA University in 2015, and now their contracts were about to expire. Education Minister Saeed Ghani said the court has directed his department to appoint principals through the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC). Appointments through the commission will take some time, so the services of the contractual principals can be continued until appointments are made through the SPSC, he added.

After a thorough discussion, the cabinet approved the request of the education department and also directed the chief secretary to request the SPSC to expedite the selection procedure.

The cabinet was told that encroachments along the irrigation channels, lands and colonies across the province had been identified and their details presented in the previous meeting of the advisory group.

Irrigation Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal told the cabinet that in the first phase, encroachments are being removed from operational areas (that create hindrances in the smooth flow of irrigation water). He said encroachments will be removed from irrigation lands where commercial activities have been started. Approving the proposal, the cabinet ordered expediting removal of encroachments.

The cabinet took up the requests of different departments of the provincial government for the purchase of motor vehicles. Ministers Shabbir Bijarani and Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that a large number of vehicles, particularly of 800cc and 1,000cc have been abandoned due to minor mechanical faults.