Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Declaring a report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) regarding holding of census “nothing but eyewash”, the top court directed the federal government to inform the precise date for carrying out the activity.

Rejecting the “vague report”, the Supreme Court (SC) directed the government to give to-the-point information without any ambiguity. Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamamli on Friday, while heading a three-judge bench, heard a suo motu case regarding the delay in holding census and observed that the previous and current governments had failed to implement the constitutional obligation.

He further observed that every political party and institution desired to maintain status quo, and did not perform duty because the seats in assemblies would have to be increased following the delimitation of constituencies if census was held.

In the PBS’s report, it has been stated that holding of census in the country was subject to the availability of army personnel for providing security to the workers and ensuring transparency of the said activity.

The attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) informed the bench that the official concerned had held meetings with the military operations directorate, seeking manpower for the census, but the directorate refused, saying that a large number of army personnel could not be spared by the authorities during the current year for holding of census.

Justice Amir Hani Muslim, a member of the bench, expressed displeasure and observed that the report was supposed to be unconditional.

Chief Justice Jamali suggested disappointingly that after making few amendments to the constitution of Pakistan, the national task of holding population census should be removed from it. The bench also observed that if the government was unwilling to conduct a census, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics should be closed.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, another member of the bench, observed that the report itself stated that the armed forces required three months for mobilisation. The chief justice observed that the whole country was being run on assumptions, as the authorities had no figures of population.

He observed that if the authorities were unaware of the population, ratio of men and women, youth and elders, then how the country’s system was being run.

During the course of the hearing, PBS Chief Statistician Asif Bajwa informed the bench that the census would be carried out on the pattern of 1999 within a timeframe of 90 days, and added that the condition of 288,000 army personnel had been suggested by the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

On this, the CJP asked if it was written somewhere in law or constitution that census must be held under the supervision of army.

He observed that on one hand there were excessive talks about strengthening civilian institutions, while on the other hand the army was being called in for every emergency. He said that the situation of law and order had been controlled by the army during the last 10 years, but asked what other civil institutions, like the police, were doing.