Annual Report 2003

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Annual Report 2003

EXECUTI VE SUMMARY

Since the establishment of the Office of Ombudsman Punjab in September 1996, this is the 7th Report on the performance of this Institution. The report for the year 2003 is the 4th in succession of my incumbency in this Office. Section 28 of the Punjab Office of The Ombudsman Act, 1997 envisages submission to the Governor, Annual Report on the working of the Institution, within 3 months of the conclusion of each Calendar year. This provides an account of the working of the Office regarding disposal of complaints received, grievances redressed, difficulties faced and actions taken to get the policy matrix made more people friendly for better functional capability of the agencies to make them responsive to the public needs.

2.

The 1973 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on the one hand grants and protects fundamental rights of the citizens and on the other hand has laid down Principles Of Policy binding Organizations/Authority of the State to act in accordance with it. In spite of these clear provisions in the Articles of the Constitution, instances of depriving people of their valuable rights because of administrative excesses have been reported in the complaints. There is compendia of laws dealing with acts violative of fundamental rights. In cases constituting mal-administration, the Institution of the Provincial Ombudsman plays its role for redressing grievances of the aggrieved citizens. In this way, it is an Institution of importance as protector of rights of the people and administrative accountability.

3.

JURISDICTION

i)

Preamble to the Punjab Office of the Provincial Ombudsman Act, 1997, provides the functional jurisdiction to the Ombudsman in the following areas of public importance:

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Protection of the rights of the people.

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Ensuring adherence to the rule of law.

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Diagnosing, redressing and rectifying any injustice done to a

person through mal-administration.

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Suppressing corrupt practices.

ii)

These matters of public importance have been kept in mind by the Legislature to provide a forum where citizens can come up with their grievances seeking redressal in an effective, inexpensive and efficient manner. All the Govt. agencies are bound under the Constitution and the law to ensure protection of guaranteed fundamental rights of the citizens by taking proactively integrated policy measures and taking admissible remedial actions where needed. This requires that every policy of Govt. should be within and according to the parameters of Public Policy enunciated in the Constitution.

iii)

A number of times, issue of jurisdiction of Provincial Ombudsman has been raised specifically in service matters. It needs to be made amply clear that wherever any act of maladministration is committed by way of omission or commission, the Ombudsman is empowered under the law to invoke his jurisdiction irrespective of the fact whether it pertains to the service matter. Hundreds of complaints originated from inordinate delays in granting move over, promotions, deciding inquiry matters, granting pensionary benefits, transfers in violation of policy, discrimination and recruitment against established norms etc. Section 9 of the Act ibid deals specifically with the jurisdiction, functions and powers of the Ombudsman. This has been further clarified in law case \u201cPLD 2001 Karachi 304 of Sindh High Court in Civil Petition No.D-504 of 1998 Civil Aviation versus Wafaqi Mohtasib\u201d (Ombudsman and others), wherein Hon\u2019ble Division Bench has held that it is a well settled law that even an order without jurisdiction may not necessarily be set-aside if the dictates of substantial justice required otherwise.

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