Governor returns draft ordinance for providing relief to lockdown-hit people.

Byline: Imran Ayub

KARACHI -- The strained relations between the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in the centre and the Pakistan Peoples Party's administration in Sindh in the wake of the coronavirus challenges suffered another blow on Thursday when Governor Imran Ismail returned Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah's proposed draft for an ordinance with objections that the provincial administration was giving relief in the area which 'does not fall within the legislative domain of the provinces'.

Official sources disclosed to Dawn that the Sindh governor in a letter to the chief minister came up with details and arguments for his objections days after the PPP government proposed a draft of 'Sindh (Covid-19) Emergency Relief Ordinance' to the Governor House for promulgation. Though the governor questioned the Sindh government for its authority on federal subjects, he was mainly critical of the PPP's proposal for relief on gas and electricity bills for the consumers.

'Thus, one cannot see as to how an ordinance of the province of Sindh could be promulgated in relation of utility bills of electricity, which does not fall within the legislative domain of the provinces,' said the Sindh governor in the summary of his objections to the chief minister while returning the proposed draft.

He referred to the judgements of the apex court and mentioned one of the cases in which 'the honourable Supreme Court has spelt out that gas tariff is to be determined in terms of the mechanism provided by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002, which is admittedly a federal statute, and for such a purpose the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has to take relevant steps prescribed under the law and rules. Therefore, once again one cannot see as to how an ordinance of the province of Sindh could tinker with utility bills of gas.'

Reminds Murad that gas and electricity do not fall within the legislative domain of provinces

The Sindh government more than a week ago approved the Sindh Covid-19 Emergency Relief Ordinance, 2020 to provide relief to the people and address the challenges emanating from the province-wide lockdown.

The PPP government had claimed that the ordinance would provide equal relief to domestic residential and commercial tenants, employees and daily-wage workers; extending deadlines associated with responding to school fees, rent and utility charges, conduct of trial or indictment and extension of the period for performance of duties by...

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