LAHORE At least six committees are evaluating the nine ordinances promulgated in Punjab before and after the declaration of emergency by former president Gen (retired) Musharraf in 2007 to check whether they are now needed or not.

One such ordinance has already become an act — Punjab General Provident Investment Fund Act 2009 — after being approved by the Punjab Assembly.
 
Under the Constitution, the life of an ordinance promulgated by a province is three months. But the PCO proclaiming the emergency had made these nine ordinances permanent, official sources said on Sunday.

They said now under the Supreme Court verdict, declaring the imposition of the emergency unconstitutional, the life of these ordinances had been determined from July 31, 2009, to October 30, 2009.

'We have started evaluating them (the ordinances) so as to check whether we require them or not. We are also checking whether the ordinances we require need some amendments,' a source said.

The committees, involved in the process, are headed by Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, Chief Minister's Senior Advisor Sirdar Zulfikar Khan Khosa, Local Government Minister Sirdar Dost Muhammad Khosa and others.

The sources said the committees were required to submit their recommendations soon after Eidul Fitr. The required ordinances would either be re-promulgated or submitted to the Punjab Assembly for adoption.

The ordinances are Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, Punjab Katchi Abadis (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, Punjab Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance 2007, Punjab Prohibition of Kite Flying (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, Punjab Rented Premises Ordinance 2007, Punjab Government Employees Welfare Fund (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, Punjab Fisheries (Amendment) Ordinance, Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 and Punjab Historical Areas Planning, Development and Regulation Ordinance 2007.