Cantonments Ordinance, 2002 (CXXXVII)(Repealed by Act No. XLVII of 2023)

The Cantonments Ordinance, 2002 set up the system of local government for Pakistan's cantonments — the specially administered towns attached to military garrisons — separate from ordinary civilian municipal government. It replaced earlier cantonment administration rules and set out how a cantonment is declared, run, and funded.

Section 13 makes the Cantonment Administrator (the local military Officer Commanding) the head of cantonment administration, responsible for overseeing finances and services, and lets him act in emergencies subject to reporting to the Board. Sections 14-15 set up the Cantonment Administration: a Cantonment Administrative Officer coordinates four types of Cantonment Officers — for municipal regulation and licensing, infrastructure and services (water, sewerage, roads, fire-fighting), planning and building control, and finance. Section 16 lists the wide range of municipal functions the Administration handles, including spatial planning, land use and building control, water supply, sewage, drainage, waste collection, roads, traffic management, and street lighting.

Chapter IV (Sections 20-29) establishes the Cantonment Board itself. Chapters V and VI create smaller elected Union Administrations and Union Councils, headed by a Union Nazim, within each cantonment. Chapter VII creates Citizen Community Boards, community groups that can raise funds for local projects, and Chapter VIII sets up Insaaf Committees and Musalihat Anjuman panels for informal, community-based dispute resolution, with courts able to refer cases to them under Section 54. Chapter IX (Sections 57-88) governs local elections within cantonments, including candidate qualifications, voting procedures, and offences such as bribery, personation, and undue influence.

Chapter X gives the government supervisory powers over cantonment administration, including calling for records, ordering inspections, and overriding local decisions. Chapter XI covers cantonment property and contracts. Chapters XII and XIII deal with public safety (fire prevention, dangerous buildings, traffic regulation) and sanitation (public health, disease control, registration of births, marriages, and deaths under Section 137, and environmental pollution under Section 138). Chapter XIV regulates markets, slaughterhouses, licensed trades, and stray or trespassing animals, including a pound system for seized cattle.

This Ordinance was repealed by Act No. XLVII of 2023, so it is no longer the governing law for cantonments; anyone relying on cantonment administration rules today should consult the current legislation rather than this text.