ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday issued notices to the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) and all four Advocate Generals (AGs) of provinces in a case pertaining to distribution of funds to provinces.
A three-member SC bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah heard the case filed by former Provincial Minister Raja Munawar Ahmed regarding discretionary allocations of development funds on the behest of Chief Executives.
During the course of proceedings, Justice Bandial said that the court had to review the constitutional petition in the context of the constitution. Advocate Faisal Chaudhry said that there was no formula for allocating funds from provinces to districts.
According to Article 140-A of the constitution, the provinces should provide funds to the local bodies at the district level, he said and added that there was a formula under Article 160 of the Constitution which provided funds to the province from the federation.
He said that there was National Finance Commission (NFC) award but there were no Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) award. The office of the Chief Minister had become very strong since the 18th Amendment, he added. He said that the distribution of funds among the provinces was at the discretion of the Chief Minister.
Upon this Justice Bandial addressing the counsel said that if the Chief Minister was not distributing funds to the districts, then districts should refer to the National Economic Council.
Faisal Chaudhry said that it was the constitutional requirement that funds be distributed among the districts under the Provincial Finance Commission.
The policy regarding the Provincial Finance Commission should be formulated through the National Economic Council, he added. He said that the National Economic Council should meet twice a year. It was also a constitutional requirement that the report of the National Economic Council be submitted to Parliament twice a year, he added.
The court after hearing arguments issued notices to the AGP and Advocate Generals and adjourned hearing of the case till date in office.