ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The Punjab government is all set to revive the system of magistracy who would be answerable to district coordination officers in matters of law and order, and not to district Nazims.

Official sources told Dawn that initially the old magistracy system was being revived in Punjab for one month to maintain law and order during Muharram.

After the change of the government, the group that was affected the most by reforms introduced under the devolution plan had been lobbying for reverting back to the previous system.

Initially, a proposal was mooted to partially revive magistracy in certain districts of the province. But now, after obtaining approval from relevant quarters, including the top judiciary, it has been decided that magistrates throughout the province would enjoy all the powers during Muharram which they used to enjoy before.

Punjab chief secretary, who was in Islamabad a few days ago, met concerned quarters and got green signal for a temporary revival of the magistracy system.

In matters of law and order, magistrates would be answerable to district coordination officers, and in case of judicial affairs, they would report to district and sessions judges. Under the devolution plan, they were made answerable to district Nazims.

The process to separate judiciary from executive started in 1989 with the announcement of a Sindh High Court judgment on the petition of Sharaf Faridi. Upholding the decision, the Supreme Court had held that “the independence of judiciary means that every judge is free to decide matter(s) before him in accordance with his assessment of the facts and understanding of the law without improper influence.”

The process to separate judiciary from executive completed during the military government. The powers enjoyed by deputy commissioners were vested in district Nazims.

The retrogressive step is aimed at bringing back the system of district magistracy, a police official apprehended.