ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court suggested to the government on Thursday to make public in people’s interest the list of proscribed outfits and the translated version of anti-terrorism laws.

“Realising the need of the hour that the biggest problem afflicting the country is terrorism, the government should at least make public the list of organisations involved in terrorism and the translated version of anti-terrorism laws in Urdu and provincial languages,” observed Justice Qazi Faez Isa, one of the members of a three-judge bench.

Read more: Banned groups

The bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja had taken notice of an incorrect version of Section 23 of the Contract Act 1872 and misprinting of certain sections of the Patent Ordinance 2000 in different law journals and manuals.

The court expressed surprise that some banned outfits were openly collecting donations in the name of poor children of Tharparkar with their names inscribed in banners, but the people who were giving charities had no idea that they were actually aiding banned organisations.

Justice Khawaja said the government should also translate the list of banned organisations into Urdu and languages prevailing in the provinces and place them on websites. Their names should also be sent to other countries to dispel an impression that Pakistan supports terrorist organisations.

Also read: 95 banned groups active in Punjab

The need to publish the list came when during the proceedings the court staff failed to procure the official list of proscribed organisations from websites of Nacta (National Counter-Terrorism Authority) and the ministries of interior and law.

The court said it had been impressing upon the federal and provincial governments and their law officers that it had become imperative to ensure that laws were easily available to citizens.

“It goes without saying that if the laws are not available easily to the people, there is no likelihood that they will adhere to the laws,” Justice Khawaja observed. This aspect was very relevant in the present day situation because there was a high degree of lawlessness in the country, he added.

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The court directed the federal and provincial law secretaries to ensure that all government acts, ordinances, rules, regulations, bylaws and other statutory instruments were easily accessible to citizens.

These should be available both in hard form and on websites of law departments with translations in Urdu and languages prevailing in the provinces in terms of rules of business of the government and Article 251 of the Constitution which called for using Urdu language for official use and Article 28 that dealt with preservation of languages and culture.

At the last hearing on Jan 19, the court had asked the law secretaries to give a deadline for meeting these objectives.

Also read: 192 militancy cases against banned outfits to be heard on priority

The court praised the Punjab government for making a substantial progress in this regard and said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also making efforts but still there were gaps in the laws from 1988 to 2013.

The court regretted that the Sindh government had no clue of the requirement of government rules of business and necessity to make rules available to people. Same is the situation in Balochistan.

The court adjourned the hearing to Jan 28 when it would issue an order suggesting timeline for provincial governments to meet the targets after going through their reports.

Justice Khawaja said the chief justice would be requested to constitute a special bench for Jan 28 after the normal court time was over.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2015

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