LAHORE: A spokesman for the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) says that powers given to the authority under the RUDA Act of 2020 will facilitate the quality execution of this project as per international standards for riverfront cities.

The project will prove to be a gamechanger not only for Lahore but also for Pakistan by generating economic activities, large number of employment opportunities and elevating the life-style of the people, says a press release issued on Monday.

Referring to the immunity clause in the Act, he said that Section 4(2) of RUDA Act 2020 allows the Authority to be taken to court, which states, “The Authority shall be a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal, with powers, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and may by the said name, sue and be sued.”

The ‘legal immunity accorded to its officers’ in RUDA Act 2020, did not mean that the Authority or its officers were above the law. Such clauses were always in the statute of any Authority to ensure smooth functioning of the government’s machinery, since they remove the fear of undue accountability and harassment ‘in respect of anything done or intended to be done in good faith’, so that a civil servant may not be unduly dragged to court for each and every action he takes or signatures he makes in his official capacity, he explained.

He said the essence of these clauses lies in the concept of “good faith”; therefore the acts done otherwise are liable to be taken to the court and other relevant forums.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2020