The Cantonment Board Rawalpindi has mounted a huge clock at Telegraph Chowk, Mall Road. Photo: AGHA MAHROZ/EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
Despite an order by the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s Rawalpindi Bench, the caretaker notification for the cantonment boards has still not been issued, even after a lapse of 16 days instead of the stipulated five.
The elected public representatives have completed their four-year term and consequently become inactive, while a date for elections in the country’s 44 cantonment boards also remains unannounced. In their absence, citizens are facing difficulties in resolving routine civic matters.
The Military Lands & Cantonments Department dissolved all 44 cantonment boards — including those in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi — on 11 November 2025 upon completion of their four-year tenure, issuing written directives to all Regional Directors of MLC to establish a caretaker set-up through the respective CEOs by November 26, 2025.
However, following a writ petition filed by the Vice President and elected members of the Rawalpindi-Wah Cantonment, the LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench disposed of the petition on December 23, 2025, ruling that the expired four-year term of the elected members could not be extended. The court directed the government to notify the caretaker set-up within five working days.
Despite the court order, no notification for the caretaker arrangement has been issued to date across the country’s cantonment boards. According to cantonment board sources, a letter has been sent to the federal government and the notification will be issued after approval by the federal cabinet.
At present, the situation has left cantonment boards without either an elected body — rendered inactive upon expiry of term — or a caretaker set-up as mandated by the court. There is also no clarity on when fresh elections will be held.
In the absence of elected representatives, citizens are struggling with routine matters such as verification of street-light complaints, sanitation, encroachments, building plans, taxation, and the issuance of birth and death certificates — tasks for which they previously relied on elected members.
Offices designated for the Vice President and elected members in the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonments have been closed, and their verification authority withdrawn.
Citizens have urged that a caretaker system be put in place without delay so that, until new elections are held, a nominated civilian and a nominated government member in each cantonment board may facilitate the resolution of civic issues.
