Hearing in petitions against LG Act 2022 today

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court will resume hearing in the petitions filed against the amendments to Local Government Act 2022 today.

A two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed on Tuesday had adjourned the hearing in the petitions challenging amendments to the Local Government Act 2022 under which the government had cut funds and stripped powers of the elected local representatives.

Petitioners’ lawyer Babar Khan Yousafzai informed the court that local government elections were held in February 2022 and elected representatives took their oaths. However, later in 2022, the provincial government amended the LG Act and withdrew key powers from the local representatives.

He pleaded that following the amendments, representatives were also stripped of their authority to utilise funds. At this point, Justice Syed Arshad Ali questioned who the powers were transferred to after being withdrawn from the LG representatives.

He said that most of the powers were removed from the LG Act and placed under government rules. He explained that the government amended Sections 23-A and 25 of the LG Act, which affected the composition of the tehsil local government structure that was established through a 2019 amendment.

Justice Arshad Ali then asked if the petitioners were satisfied with the 2019 amendment, to which Babar Yousafzai replied that they were, and that elections had been held under those provisions.

However, the 2022 amendment to Section 23-A revoked the powers of local government representatives, placing them under the control of the provincial government.As a result, representatives such as tehsil chairmen and village council members were left without any funding or authority.

Additional Advocate General Taimur Haider informed the court that the provincial government had submitted a written response. He sought time to present his arguments today.The court then agreed and adjourned the hearing for 1pm today.