A Judge may laugh; a cynic may not.

Byline: Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman

The decision to discard the system of District Administration during the tenure of Pervaiz Mushraf was both abrupt and unsavory. It came as a rude shock to the capability of the government to handle law and order situation in the country. All this was done without really any in-depth analysis of different strands of administrative policy that gelled together to empower the district government to have an effective control on security issues. A time tested system, with a standing of over two hundred years, was thrown to the basket in an egoistic manner. Here one may quote Zac Posen, 'Chefs have the ego of an actor, and the fashion designer combined'. It is important to note that India defied all such attempts to scuttle the same administrative structure and retains it till to date.

The system, as we inherited it from the British rule in the sub-continent was based upon hard ground realities in the region: the huge area, heterogeneous society, abysmally low level of education and scant regard among the people for the populist thinking and collective living. Alas, not much has changed ever since! Broadly, the system aimed at, among other things, to; a) make district as a hub of administration; b) assign top-priority to the maintenance of law and order; c) ensure a robust revenue administration and d) lend support to important institutions in the government to work in harmony and draw strength from one another. Hence an elaborate system of the district management was established which was to play a pivotal role in the overall administration of the country. The authors of the system made sure that it was backed by an adequate legislative cover, rules, manuals and inspections guide-lines etc. to help address the day to day problems of people. The District Magistrate was the lead figure and enjoyed a considerable influence in the hierarchy of administration. His top-priority was the maintenance of peace and stability in his district. Authority conferred upon him under the Criminal Procedure Code, Police Act and an umpteen number of local and special laws made him an effective coordinator amongst all the nation building departments represented in a district. He being the chief prosecuting officer of the district was duty bound to carefully examine the court decisions in heinous crime, affecting the peace of his district and to file appeals in cases where he suspected that the punishments were not commensurate with the...

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