SHC dismisses petitions against LG law tweaks for mayor’s election

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday dismissed identical petitions that challenged the amendments to the local government law, which allow unelected individuals to contest elections for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor.

The Jamaat-e-Islami’s candidate for mayor, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, had filed a petition with the SHC against the amendments that permit unelected individuals to contest the mayoral election.

His counsel pointed out that Section 18 of the law made membership of the corporation or council an essential condition for the eligibility of a person seeking to be elected to the post of chairman or mayor.

He said that prior to the 2023 law, it had been necessary for a person to undergo a direct electoral process to become eligible to contest the election for either of those posts. He also argued that the insertion of Section 18-B in the 2023 law effectively removed this requirement, allowing any person to be elected.

He contended that Section 3 of the 2023 law thus violated the fundamental principle of representative democracy at LG level, which is based on the vesting of executive authority in elected representatives of the people, as enshrined in Article 140-A of the constitution.

The Sindh government however raised objections regarding the petitioner’s locus standi (right to bring legal action) and the maintainability of the petition. The provincial law officer argued that the petitioner belongs to a political party whose elected representatives in the PA had voted in favour of the 2023 law, which, according to him, had been passed unanimously. He pointed out that the 2023 law was passed by the PA on May 11 and had received the governor’s assent the same day; it was subsequently published in the Sindh government Gazette on May 12.

The counsel for the Karachi mayor also defended the amendments and said the elected union council chairman can elect the mayor and there was no illegality in the amendments. A high court division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui, for reasons to be recorded later on, dismissed the petitions.