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| April 30, 2003 | Wednesday | Safar 27, 1424 |
AJK opposes federal jurisdiction over dam
ISLAMABAD, April 29: The government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has rejected a proposal envisaging bringing the Mangla Dam territory under the judicial jurisdiction of Pakistan.
Such an attempt, officials said, would deprive AJK of its constitutional right to claim net profits from Mangla Dam power station and fishing in the lake.
Raja Farooq Haider, special assistant on information and political affairs to the AJK prime minister, told Dawn that there was no question of accepting the proposal which would deprive the state of its rights on the territory.
Under clause 8 of the proposed agreement on Mangla Dam raising project, it has been suggested that the jurisdiction of laws and courts of Pakistan may be extended over the territory.
The AJK government’s stand is that the laws of Pakistan do not apply to the AJK and the proposed clause is likely to cause a legal dichotomy because the subject of the agreement was stipulated within AJK and not in Pakistan.
The second step after enforcement of the clause, AJK officials claimed, would be to declare that since the dam did not lie in AJK, it could not claim any share in earnings from the project.
According to documents made available by the AJK government, the Water and Power Development Authority has failed to implement Article 161(2) of the Constitution. The article stipulates that the profits earned by the federal government or any undertaking or establishment administered by it from bulk generation of a hydroelectric station shall be paid to the province in which it is situated.
In a letter dated 8/9/1970, the cabinet division stated: “Although AJK was not a part of Pakistan within the meaning of Article 1(2-b) of the Constitution, it should for all practical purposes be treated like any province.” On the principle of this parity with provinces, AJK is entitled to receive the net hydel profit of Mangla Dam as is in practice for the NWFP.
The AJK government’s stand was that its people were prepared to support the plan to raise Mangla Dam for enhanced water storage and power generation but the federal government must reciprocate the spirit, sources said.
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