PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday issued a stay order stopping the Pakistan Girl Guides Association’s central executive committee from intervening in the affairs of the body’s provincial chapter.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed M Attique Shah and Justice Mohammad Nasir Mahfooz also directed the elementary and secondary education department to maintain the status quo on issues related to the PGGA’s provincial chapter.

It was hearing a petition of the association’s provincial executive committee through provincial president Faiza Babar seeking a ruling that the association, an independent body under the PGGA Ordinance, 1960, couldn’t be controlled or interfered outside the ambit of the law by any government body.

The petitioner sought the court’s directives for the education department to stop undue interference in its affairs and release the funds collected in lieu of the Girl Guides Fund to it.

The petitioner said the directorate of education department had been collecting Rs12 per female student under the head of GGF and non-transfer of that money to the petitioner was illegal and unlawful.

Respondents in the petition are the provincial government through its chief secretary, E&SE department through its secretary, directorate of E&SE through its director, and PGGA through its president.

Directs dept to maintain status quo on related matters

When the bench began hearing, an official of the education department said during the pendency of the petition, the central executive committee of the association had withdrawn its permission for the petitioner to function on its behalf.

The bench expressed surprise at the move and wondered how such an action could be taken when the matter was sub judice.

It observed that the move showed the mala fide intent of the respondents as the petitioner was punished for moving the high court for relief.

The bench ordered the central committee not to interfere in the functioning of the provincial chapter until further orders.

The date for next hearing into the petition will be fixed later.

Ali Gohar Durrani, lawyer for the petitioner, said the directorate of E&SE through a notification on July 25, 2011, increased the fee to Rs12 for girl students of grade 6-12.

He, however, claimed that no funds were provided the petitioner for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The lawyer said the department had decided that the fund collected by district education officer would not be directly transferred to PGGA but to the account of directorate of E&SE and would be transferred to PGGA in line with their requirement.

He added that a memo was sent to all DEOs (female) on Jan 31, 2019, by the directorate of E&SE to directly send the money to it.

The lawyer said the respondents wanted DEOs to become part of PGGA without any formal procedure.

He said the petitioner even agreed to appoint DEO (female) as district commissioners but the department directly nominated all DEOs (female) as their nominees for district commissioners of PGGA, KP, and to involve them in all decisions of provincial and district level.

The lawyer said without following the proper procedure, the deputy director of E&SE was nominated as the provincial commissioner.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2021