The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday restored the Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018, which was suspended by the GB Supreme Appellate Court on June 20.

Under the Gilgit-Baltistan Order-2018, which replaced the GB Empowerment and Self-Governance Order of 2009, all powers exercised by the GB council, including passing legislation regarding mineral, hydropower and tourism sectors, were shifted to the GB Assembly.

However, a large number of residents of the region along with the combined opposition in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) rejected the order and said that GB should be declared a part of Pakistan instead of being administered through presidential orders.

Read: Explainer: Why GB’s opposition parties oppose new orde

As a result of widespread protests against the order, the Supreme Appellant Court had accepted GBLA member Saeed Afzal's petition under Article 61 of the GB Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009, The petitioner had asked the court to declare the GB Order 2018 illegal and issue a stay order against it.

The appellant court had also issued contempt of court notice to respondents — former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as chairman of the GB Council, federal minister for Kashmir affairs and GB and joint secretary of the council — for violation of law.

The court had also restored the GB Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 in the region.

The government had, in turn, moved the SC against the GB Appellant Court's order and demanded that GB Order 2018 be restored.

In today's hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, heading a three-judge bench, restored the 2018 ordinance and said that it was the government's responsibility to ensure that the people of GB are treated the same as the citizens of any other part of the country.

Opinion

Editorial

Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...
Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.