PTI moves SHC against administrators’ appointments after LG poll date announcement

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Sindh government, the Election Commission of Pakistan and others on a petition against the appointments of administrators and transfers and postings of government officials after the announcement of local bodies elections’ schedule.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf submitted in the petition that the Sindh government had become involved in pre-poll rigging in the local government elections and it had also violated the ban imposed by the ECP on transfers and postings of government officials after the announcement of the local bodies elections’ schedule.

The petitioner’s counsel Shahab Imam submitted that the government had malafidely and without prior approval from the ECP transferred and placed the services of government officers at the disposal of the local government department for appointments as administrators to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, DMC Korangi, East and Central districts as well as Hyderabad commissioner through impugned notifications.

The counsel said the government transferred Syed Saifur Rehman to the local government department and appointed him as KMC administrator on December 8, Mohammad Farooq as administrator of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Syed Shakeel Ahmed as administrator of the DMC East, Furqan Atyeb as administrator District Central and Mohammad Sharif as administrator of Korangi on December 19.

He said the notifications were issued in violation of Section 5 (4) of the Election Act and even the caretaker government was not competent to issue transfer and posting notifications under the election laws.