Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday criticised the federal government over introduction of laws through special ordinances, saying such an action is tantamount to ‘usurping’ the parliament’s job.
“Shut down the parliament if laws are to be introduced through ordinances,” he remarked during the hearing of a case regarding cutting of forests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Rulers of the country are engrossed in other issues when the real issue is the protection of the environment,” he said, asking why an important law concerning forests was instituted through an ordinance.
During the hearing, the court rejected applications filed by the petitioners who claim to be owners of the pieces of forest land. The bench observed that the petitioners had not asked to be given their share at any level during the hearing of the case. Justice Isa told the petitioners that they did not have a right of claim to the land and that the government should have filed a review petition in the case. He also asked the government representative why the order in the case, issued in 2013, was not implemented. “The protection of forests is important for the future of upcoming generations,” the judge remarked, adding that all laws relating to forests in the country were instead ‘designed to protect corruption’.
The judge noted that the number of forests in KP and Gilgit-Baltistan is dwindling, with the areas losing greenery at a rapid pace. “No one is ready to touch a law introduced by a dictator,” he said, adding that ‘a dictator comes and takes two minutes to do away with the parliament’. He also said the country’s prevailing atmosphere is such that ‘one cannot freely talk about anything’.
The judge said every person involved in the cases concerning forests is a ‘liar’. “Those cutting forests are murdering generations,” he concluded.
