ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court yesterday observed that without monitoring of charity organisations the objectives of National Action Plan could not be achieved.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa hearing a plea about source of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) funding, directed secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan to extend cooperation to the provinces and submit a comprehensive report in a week. The bench also ordered the federal and provincial governments to compile data of organisations collecting charities.
During the hearing, the chief justice observed, “If the government does not work in dealing with this sensitive issue, the court will intervene and ready to face criticism.”
He said there was some progress since the court took notice of the issue but still a lot had to be done pertaining to monitoring of local and foreign NGOs and it was the responsibility of the government to take practical steps for addressing the problem.
The chief justice stated that country was fighting terrorism, therefore, the government should monitor the local and foreign NGOs and ascertain their source of funding.
The court asked Sarwar Khan, Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan that whether there was any mechanism adopted by the government for monitoring the charity organisations collecting funds.
Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti told the court that the transaction of NGOs funding was being made through banks. He, however, informed that there was no procedure available for checking the local charity organisations and no record was available in this regard.
Justice Jawwad said any work done without maintaining record could create problems. Additional Advocate General Punjab Razaq A Mirza submitted that there should be a unified law for both federal and provincial governments in this regard.
The chief justice remarked if the court was to make law, it could do in a day but the legislation was the job of government. Justice Qazi observed that people who were paying taxes were facing problems while those who not paying, the government was least bothered about them.
The court observed that the government did not take action against the organisations lacking record.
The court directed both federal and provincial governments to compile data of those organisations collecting charities in the country and submit report within a week.