Law: Punjab Revenue Authority Act, 2012

Section: 3

JUDGMENT It is our misfortune that when we are looking for individuals to serve our own-selves, we search for the best of doctors, the best of architects, the best of lawyers, the best of engineers, the best of cooks, the best of butlers and so on but when it comes to selecting similar individuals to serve the public, we get swayed by nepotism, by petty personal interests and by other similar ulterior and extraneous considerations and settle for the ones not worthy of serving the public in the requisite manner. --Supreme Court of Pakistan[1] Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, J:- The petitioners[2]. are taxpayers, who, agitate, amongst other grounds, that Punjab Revenue Authority("PRA or Authority") has not been lawfully established or constituted under section 3 of the Punjab Revenue Authority Act, 2012 ("Act-II"). They submit that initially the Government only appointed a Chairperson of the Punjab Revenue Authority, who unlawfully held himself out as the Authority, when the law provides that the Authority shall constitute a Chairperson and at least four Members. They also agitate that the mode of appointment of the Chairperson and the Members is not in accordance with the provisions of Act-II and also offends the pronouncements of the superior courts, which hold that appointments to public sector institutions should be open, fair, transparent, consultative and deliberative. 2. It is submitted that after the filing of these petitions, the Government got wind of the illegalities in the constitution of the Authority and in their passion to rectify things, hurriedly appointed Members on ex-officio basis, which the law does not permit and later on promulgated the Amending Ordinance, validating the acts of the Chairperson, without curing the defect i.e., substituting and empowering the Chairperson with the Authority. It is submitted that the Government failed to rectify things and in haste, jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. 3. The petitioners submit that without the establishment of the Authority, all the orders, notifications, directions and Rules framed by the Chairperson(assuming himself to be the Authority) are unconstitutional, illegal and without lawful…