LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the caretaker Punjab government on a petition challenging an ordinance that clipped powers of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) to register cases against civil servants.

A lawyer argued on behalf of the petitioner that the governor last week promulgated the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 to introduce amendments to the law. He stated that the impugned ordinance limits the powers of the ACE and its officers, requiring them to obtain a prior permission in writing from the government to register a case against a civil servant.

He said under the amended ordinance, the secretary of the relevant department or the additional chief secretary Punjab or the chief secretary, as the case may be, would constitute a committee to examine the complaint against a civil servant and decide whether to grant permission to the ACE for case registration.

The counsel pointed out that the law also restrains the ACE from arresting a civil servant without prior permission of the government, that includes the chief secretary, the administrative secretary or the head of the department concerned, as the case may be, as per the basic pay scale of the civil servant.

He argued that the impugned ordinance reduced the ACE to a toothless and redundant body. He further argued that the caretaker government had no mandate to make such legislation and that too through an ordinance.

The counsel said the LHC had struck down a similar move of the then government in 2014. He asked the court to set aside the impugned ordinance for being unlawful and based on mala fide intention.

Justice Abid Hussain Chattah sought a detailed reply from the government and also directed the advocate general of Punjab to assist the court on the matter on the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2023