PIDA Ordinance 2020 challenged in SHC: SHC requested to stop federal govt from taking over islands

KARACHI: The Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) Ordinance 2020 was challenged in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday with the plea to refrain the federal government from taking over the Bundal and Buddo islands under this ordinance.

The petitioner, Shahab Osto, challenged the PIDA Ordinance 2020 on the grounds that it is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.

A division bench of the SHC issued notices to federal and Sindh governments to submit their detailed replies to the petition in the next hearing in the case on October 23.

The petitioner submitted that the Bundal and Buddo Islands are situated within less than three nautical miles off the coast of Karachi; hence, these Islands are, and have always been, part of the province of Sindh and historically treated as "extensions" of the city of Karachi. Therefore, the provincial government of Sindh has always enjoyed untrammeled writ over these islands.

The petitioner stated that the said ordinance has set a dangerous precedent by arbitrarily taking over the territories of a province in violation of the law and Constitution, and if not reversed, would lead to further usurpation of provincial territories and resources, ultimately causing a complete demolition of the federal structure.

The petitioner stated that the federal government through a presidential ordinance has permanently taken over the two provincial islands and has thereby altered the boundaries of the province of Sindh in abject and willful violation of Article 239(4) of the Constitution that not only requires the assent of a two-third majority in both Houses of the Parliament, but also the approval of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh by the votes of no less than two-third of its total membership.

The petitioner requested the court to declare the PIDA Ordinance 2020 illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, void ab initio and of no legal effect and order the federal government to refrain from taking over the two islands under the said ordinance.

The petitioner also prayed the court to direct the federal government to not to proceed with the implementation of the ordinance and refrain from appointing a chairman of the Pakistan Islands Development Authority, among others, for which an advertisement has already been published in the national dailies.

The petitioner also pleaded the court to direct the Sindh government to protect the fundamental rights of the communities living on these islands, including their possessory and proprietary rights, as provided in the law and Constitution.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020