PHC re-issues notice to PTI govt
January 25, 2014
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday re-issued notice to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government to explain the questions raised in the writ petition filed against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013.
A division bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Lal Jan Khattak re-issued the notice to the provincial government after Additional Advocate General Waqar Ahmad Khan submitted that the advocate general would assist the court at the next hearing with regard to the points raised in the writ petition.
The Awami National Party (ANP) had challenged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013 in the PHC through its parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak, who said his party had reservations over different sections of the new law.
Counsel for the petitioner Khushdil Khan submitted before the bench that under the new law the seats were allocated for the youth through an unlawful way.He said the elections were being held on non-party basis, but all the political parties wanted party-based polls.
Under the new law, he said the elections for village and neighbourhood councils would be conducted on non-party basis while at the ward level party-based elections for the membership of district and tehsil councils would be held. He called it “mere confusion.”
The ANP parliamentary leader challenged the inclusion of village and neighbourhood councils in the local government law, holding the local government elections on the non-party basis at the grassroots and assigning the powers to the chief minister to suspend district naib nazims and nazims.
The petitioner said the provisions of sections 52, 58, 59 and 60 of the Act were politically motivated and gave absolute powers to the chief minister and the minister to interfere in the affairs of the elected local governments.
It said that subsection 7 of section 74 of the Act that provided for the elections to the tehsil and district councils on party basis clashed with sub-section (2) of section 27, which spoke for non-party elections to the village and neighbourhood council.
A division bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin and Justice Lal Jan Khattak re-issued the notice to the provincial government after Additional Advocate General Waqar Ahmad Khan submitted that the advocate general would assist the court at the next hearing with regard to the points raised in the writ petition.
The Awami National Party (ANP) had challenged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013 in the PHC through its parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak, who said his party had reservations over different sections of the new law.
Counsel for the petitioner Khushdil Khan submitted before the bench that under the new law the seats were allocated for the youth through an unlawful way.He said the elections were being held on non-party basis, but all the political parties wanted party-based polls.
Under the new law, he said the elections for village and neighbourhood councils would be conducted on non-party basis while at the ward level party-based elections for the membership of district and tehsil councils would be held. He called it “mere confusion.”
The ANP parliamentary leader challenged the inclusion of village and neighbourhood councils in the local government law, holding the local government elections on the non-party basis at the grassroots and assigning the powers to the chief minister to suspend district naib nazims and nazims.
The petitioner said the provisions of sections 52, 58, 59 and 60 of the Act were politically motivated and gave absolute powers to the chief minister and the minister to interfere in the affairs of the elected local governments.
It said that subsection 7 of section 74 of the Act that provided for the elections to the tehsil and district councils on party basis clashed with sub-section (2) of section 27, which spoke for non-party elections to the village and neighbourhood council.
