Balochistan High Court Suspends Government Notification Granting Magistrate Powers to Deputy Commissioners
Quetta: The Balochistan High Court (BHC) has suspended the provincial cabinet’s decision to grant judicial powers of First-Class Magistrates to Deputy Commissioners, Additional Deputy Commissioners, and Assistant Commissioners.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Rozi Khan Bareech and Justice Sardar Ahmed Haleemi issued the order while hearing a constitutional petition filed by Advocate Iftikhar Ahmed Lango.
The petitioner argued that the cabinet’s **September 24, 2025** decision was unconstitutional and contrary to Section 14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1898, which does not empower the cabinet to delegate judicial authority to administrative officers. He further cited a **2012 Balochistan High Court judgment (PLD 2012 Balochistan 57)** that had already declared such a practice illegal.
The court observed that conferring judicial powers on the executive amounted to a violation of **Article 175(3) of the Constitution**, which mandates the separation of the judiciary from the executive.
Declaring the petition maintainable, the bench admitted it for regular hearing and issued notices to all respondents, including the Advocate General of Balochistan for assistance. Meanwhile, implementation of the provincial cabinet’s September 24 decision has been suspended until further orders.
