KARACHI, Jan 19: The Sindh Environmental Tribunal’s working has virtually come to a halt as the federal government failed to fill the vacant post of the tribunal’s chairperson after November 3, 2007 when a state of emergency was imposed and the then judges of the high courts were asked to take an oath on the Provisional Constitution Order.

Sources in the tribunal said that though there was no formal notification from the law ministry about the removal of the last posted chairperson of the tribunal, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, who was a judge of the SHC and did not take the new oath, it had largely been assumed that the key post of the tribunal had been vacant for the last two and a half months.

The tribunal, which was commissioned to handle cases of environmental degradation and polluters, has not been able to hold proceedings of some admitted cases for the last two months due to a lack of quorum, a source said, adding that in some cases parties had been told that they would have to wait for a formal proceeding.

The Sindh Environment Tribunal was commissioned in Karachi about 10 months ago with the appointment of a high court judge as the chairman and nomination of two members -- one technical and the other legal -- as required under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997.

Since October 6, 2007 a case was being heard by Justice Khilji Arif Hussain as the tribunal’s chairman against a tannery of Korangi. The tribunal had ordered the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to prepare a detailed report on tanneries in Korangi and the measures taken for the compliance of environmental laws by tanners at that time. Sepa was of the view that a number of tanneries in Korangi failed to comply with the National Environment Quality Standards and thus caused pollution in the area. Over a dozen cases involving the tanners of Korangi mainly and Sepa were heard formally till November 3 when the emergency was imposed in the country.

The parties concerned in the cases have been asked about two weeks back to report again on February 2, 2007 because confusion prevailed over the issue of chairman without whom the tribunal could not hear a case formally or make any verdict, said another source.

It was learnt that law ministry had neither confirmed that Justice Khilji, who was nominated by the SHC as the tribunal chairman, had been removed nor had it moved the high court for any fresh nomination in this regard.

A source in the federal law ministry said that the post of tribunal’s chairman was lying vacant technically but the fresh appointment on the post was unlikely before the completion of general elections in the country. Despite repeated correspondence on the subject the authorities are still waiting for a formal reply or directives from Islamabad, said a source in the tribunal, adding that the chairman’s presence was a must for every sitting of the tribunal.

In the meantime, it was learnt that a regular member of the tribunal, Soofia Latifi, had been withdrawn from the tribunal and posted as a district judge while another judge from a special court had been asked to hold the additional charge of member technical in the environmental tribunal, the source said.

The quarters concerned are not satisfied with the developments related to Sindh’s tribunal and they felt that no case except that of the tanners could be instituted and filed to the tribunal during the last months, which could be attributed solely to the lack of interest on the part of the federal government. They said that cases could be prepared by both the provincial environment agency and citizens against those who caused impairment of environment and put human life at risk.

The tribunal officials agreed that cases could be filed on different sorts of pollution, unethical and unsafe activities by industries and transporters, careless dumping of chemicals, pesticides, non-scientific disposal of solid waste, hospital and pharmaceutical wastes in Karachi and some other districts of the province.