Cantonment Board Rawalpindi has installed a huge clock at Telegraph Chowk, Mall Road. Photo: AGHA MAHROZ/EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
Despite an order by the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench, the caretaker’s notice to the cantonment boards has still not been issued even after the lapse of 16 days instead of the stipulated five.
The elected representatives have completed their four-year term and have therefore become inactive, while a date for elections in the country’s 44 cantonal boards also remains unannounced. In their absence, citizens face difficulties in solving routine civil matters.
The Military Lands & Cantonments Department dissolved all 44 cantonment boards—including those in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi—on 11 November 2025 after the end of their four-year tenure, and issued written directives to all regional directors of the MLC to establish a caretaker set-up through the respective CEOs by 2 November 2026.
However, following a petition filed by the Vice President and the elected members of Rawalpindi-Wah Cantonment, the Rawalpindi Bench of the LHC disposed of the petition on 23 December 2025 and ruled that the expired four-year term of the elected members could not be extended. The court ordered the government to notify the caretaker within five working days.
Despite the court ruling, no notification has so far been issued for the caretaker scheme across the country’s canton boards. According to Cantonment Board sources, a letter has been sent to the federal government and the notification will be issued after the approval of the federal cabinet.
At present, the situation has left cantonment boards without either an elected body – made inactive at the end of the election period – or a caretaker setup as ordered by the court. There is also no clarity on when new elections will be held.
In the absence of elected representatives, citizens struggle with routine matters such as verification of street light complaints, sanitation, interventions, building plans, taxation and issuing birth and death certificates – tasks for which they previously depended on elected members.
Offices designated for the Vice President and elected members in Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonments have been closed and their verification powers withdrawn.
The citizens have called for the immediate introduction of a caretaker system so that until new elections are held, a nominated civilian and a nominated member of the government in each canton board can facilitate the resolution of civic issues.
