MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 2: AJK cabinet on Friday approv-ed the recommendations of a committee regarding the implementation of the devolution of power plan in Azad Kashmir with certain amendments and decided to forward them to the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) through the Federal Kashmir Affairs Ministry for its opinion.

According to the recommendations, city district councils would be set up in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur and they would enjoy full financial and administrative powers while the municipal committees of Bagh, Kotli, Rawalakot, Sudhnoti and Bhimbher would be renamed as municipal councils.

The population under the city district councils and the municipal councils would not be less than 100,000 and 20,000 respectively.

Similarly, district councils, enjoying financial and administrative powers, would be set up in the seven AJK districts.

There will be union councils, with populations of 10,000, in the rural areas and town committees, with population of 5,000, in the urban areas.

The committee, which prepared the recommendations, was led by L old Dawn that the committee’s report was silent about the establishment of the city and district governments in AJK, as had been done in Pakistan, because “the members of the committee believed that such governments were not economically viable in view of certain conditions of the state.”

Sources said the legislation to implement the committee’s recommendations would be done through an ordinance, after the government receives the opinion of the NRB.

The local bodies election commissioner had already prepared a draft in this regard, which was sent to the law department for wetting, sources said.

It may be mentioned here that the AJK Legislative Assembly is meeting on Saturday and the session is expected to continue till Nov 14, during which the house would take up a number of ordinances for enactment. Sources said legislation regarding the devolution plan would be done after the prorogation of the session.

The cabinet decided that the process for delimitation of the LB constituencies would be started from Dec 1.

Sources said the cabinet also decided that the local bodies’ polls would be held in April, but no final date was fixed. Earlier, the cabinet had announced that the polls would be conducted in the last week of March.

The cabinet approved an amendment in the Islamic Penal Laws Promulgation Act, 1974, whereby the single-member bench of district and Tehsil criminal courts can also deliver judgment. Earlier, the judgment could only be delivered by a two-member bench, comprising the judge and the Qazi.

Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan directed the law department to compile recommendations so that the Qazis could also be given powers equivalent to the magistrates and session judges to pave the way for the establishment of their separate courts in order to provide maximum relief to the public.

The cabinet formed a committee, with law minister as its chief, to review an amendment in the Family Court Act, which was tabled for approval. The amendment suggested that the appeals against the decisions of the family courts should be filed in the high court, instead of the Shariat court.

A bill aimed at establishing the judicial service tribunal was also deferred.

The prime minister directed the chief secretary to take up the case of Naik Saif Ali Shaheed with the Federal Defence Ministry to get his status declared equivalent to the recipients of Nishan-i-Haider.

Saif Ali, belonging to the prime minister’s hometown, Nakyal, was serving in (now defunct) Azad Kashmir Regimental Forces at the time of his martyrdom and was awarded Hilal-i-Kashmir, the highest military award of the Azad Kashmir government, which was equivalent to the Nishan-i-Haider.

The cabinet decided to name a road after Naik Saif Ali and construct a memorial in his honour in Nakyal.

The cabinet also directed the authorities concerned for implementation of its decisions regarding naming the government educational institutions after prominent personalities.

RESOLUTIONS: The cabinet, through a resolution, condemned in strong terms the state-sponsored terrorism in Held Kashmir as well as the terrorist acts being committed across the globe, but stressed that “the civilian populations, children and women should not be targeted under cover of striking against terrorism.”