Pakistan’s Supreme Court judge, judge Jamal Mandokhail, has noticed that if the government should move at the speed of a cheetah, it takes place at the rate of a turtle.
He made the comments during an audience of the Supreme Court on the creation of the climate Change Authority, reported Express News.
The case, heard by a constitutional bench of five members led by judge Ameen-Ud-Din Khan, focused on the training of the Authority for Climate Change.
Judge Mandokhail stressed that climate change is a critical problem and that the government must accelerate its efforts.
The additional prosecutor general informed the court that a third advertisement was published for the appointment of the President of the Authority.
Judge Mandokhail asked why the first two advertisements had not given results.
The additional prosecutor general explained that the dual nationality of the first candidate had disqualified him, in accordance with the government’s policy on high -ranking appointments.
Judge Mandokhail suggested that compromises may be necessary to find the right candidate, adding that the real challenge lies in the functioning of authority in the provinces.
The additional prosecutor general replied that the provinces had already appointed members for the authority.
Judge AMOUEN-UD-DIN added that KHYBER-PAKHTUNKHWA had appointed Faisal Amin, the brother of the provincial chief, while Balutchistan had appointed a university vice-chancellor.
Judge Mandokhail questioned the expertise of the person appointed by Balutchistan, declaring that they did not have the relevant experience.
The additional prosecutor general assured that they would contact the provinces instead to appoint technocrats. He also confirmed that the rules for the authority was ready and would be sent to the Ministry of Law for approval.
Judge Mandokhail expressed his frustration as for the law to be adopted in 2017, the president was not appointed and that the rules were not finalized. He also questioned the process of appointment of environmental agency heads in the provinces.
The secretary of climate change, Zulfiqar Younis, informed the court that 752 requests had been received in the previous round.
Judge Mandokhail asked why the two other preselected candidates were not taken into account, to which the secretary replied that they had not complied with the required standards.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Mian Samuddin, argued that this case concerns fundamental rights and has expressed concerns about the difficulty of finding an appropriate Pakistani expert. He noted that the climate changes Authority has remained inactive since 2017.
The court postponed the hearing for a month.
