QUETTA: Balochistan’s interim cabinet in its first meeting on Tuesday endorsed the federal government’s policy against smuggling and the illegal business of Iranian petrol and decided to fully implement the policy with zero tolerance.

The meeting, chaired by caretaker Chief Minister Mir Ali Mardan Domki, decided not to give protection to any illegal act under the law.

After the cabinet’s meeting, Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai told the media that the provincial government had decided to adopt a “zero-tolerance policy” against smuggling and other illegal businesses.

He said the government was making all-out efforts to provide job and business opportunities to the people living in the border areas of Balochistan and was establishing border markets at various points along the Iranian border.

BHC dismisses petition against appointment of three interim ministers, CM adviser

“Two markets have been made functional in the border areas while three more are in the pipeline and will be opened soon,” Mr Achakzai said.

He said the cabinet had expressed satisfaction with the better security situation in the province, especially in Quetta, and therefore decided that the Frontier Corps should be relieved from some areas and instead the police and Levies Force be given responsibilities to maintain law and order.

The minister said the cabinet had also decided to review the expenditure on law and order in its next meeting because of the improving situation.

Moreover, the cabinet had decided to establish a woman-only police station in the Nasirabad district and recruit more women in police, he said.

Mr Achakzai said the cabinet also discussed the issue of outstanding dues of agriculture tube wells against landowners and observed that they had not been not able to pay their dues because the last year’s floods had destroyed agriculture and other sectors in the province.

The cabinet also asked the federal government to adjust these outstanding dues from Balochistan’s share in federal resources pending against the federal government under the National Finance Commission award. He said that under an agreement about subsidies to landowners, the Quetta Electric Supply Company and the Balochistan government were paying their share.

In the cabinet meeting, caretaker Chief Minister Domki stressed that the first responsibility of the caretaker government was to establish a peaceful environment and support the Election Commission for conducting fair and transparent polls.

He asked the ministers to improve governance and efficiency of their respective departments and send reports to him regularly.

BHC dismisses plea

Meanwhile, the Balo­chistan High Court dismissed a constitutional petition filed to challenge the induction of three ministers and an adviser into the interim provincial cabinet.

The petitioner pleaded that Jan Achakzai, inducted as information minister in the interim cabinet, had political affiliation and dual nationality, while another cabinet member Zubair Ahmed Jamali was a close relative of Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali.

He also objected to the appointment of Education Minister Qadir Bakhsh, saying that he was the sitting vice chancellor of Mir Chakar Khan Rind University in Sibi.

Besides, Shania Khan, who was appointed as an adviser to the interim chief minister, had served as a coordinator of the former chief minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo.

However, after hearing the arguments of the attorney general and advocate general and reviewing the available record and relevant clauses of the Constitution, the BHC bench observed that there was nothing in the record that showed that these members of the interim cabinet and adviser to the chief minister were members of any political parties.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2023