Pak emergency challenged

The Supreme Court earlier this month while rejecting a petition of WAPDA employees challenging the handing over of power sector to army has observed that it cannot grant relief in the case due to the emergency but said WAPDA can challenge the continuation of emergency. It has asked the attorney general for how long the government wanted to continue the emergency.

Thepetitioner, WAPDA employees action committee, argued that the government had claimed there existed a threat of aggression from India but now quite fraternal relations had brenchment after suspension of trade union activities. A number of employees were declared surplus after the government decided to deploy nearly 35,000 army personnel in the power sector to remove alleged corruption and power theft.

When the emergency was first challenged in July last year Sharif argued that apart from the threat of aggression from India, its intelligence agency, RAW, had also been quot;promoting acts of terrorismquot;.

The WAPDA petition dismisses this argument saying the Government itself claimed the law and order situation in Sindh had been improved and even the economic crises had eased up following the release of loans by IMF.

The petition enlists a series of fundamental rights which remains suspended because of the continuation of the emergency and urges the apex court to re-examine its July judgement.