LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Tuesday issued notices to the Sheikhupura deputy commissioner and Muridke assistant commissioner on a petition seeking contempt proceedings against them for exercising judicial power in violation of a stay order.

Chief Justice Khan also asked the Punjab chief secretary to explain as to when the court’s stay order was conveyed to all commissioner offices in the province.

On July 9, the chief justice, hearing a petition, had suspended a Punjab government notification, which conferred the judicial powers upon the commissioners, deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Barrister Momin Malik, on behalf of the petitioner, told the court that the respondent DC and AC continued exercising judicial powers and decided matters despite a stay order issued by the court.

Chief justice seeks explanation from CS

The CJ expressed dismay at the information and directed the chief secretary to furnish a report regarding conveyance of the stay order to the officers and the purported judicial powers used by them. The next date of the hearing will be fixed by the court’s office.

The petitioner had contended that under the Constitution and prevalent law, executive and judiciary were two separate entities and they couldn’t interfere in each other’s affairs. However, the Punjab government, on June 17, granted powers of magistrate first class to commissioners and deputy commissioners in violation of the law.

The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that the impugned notification was ultra vires of articles 2 & 9 of the Constitution as well as of Section 14-A of Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. He said as per judgments of the superior courts, the executive couldn’t exercise judicial powers.

Under the government notification, the powers of first class judicial magistrate were granted to all the deputy commissioners, additional deputy commissioners (general), additional deputy commissioners for carrying out raids, trials and other subsidiary matters related to price control/hoarding prevention, forests, mines and minerals, food adulteration, food safety, encroachments on public lands and lands owned by the governments, canal and drainage, dangerous driving etc.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2020