PHC declares amends to LG Ordinance null & void

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday declared null and void the amendments made by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to the Local Government Ordinance that curtailed the powers and funds of representatives.

The petition was heard by a two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed.

Advocate Babar Khan Yousafzai represented the petitioners-Humayatullah Mayar, Zubair Ali, and others.

Babar Khan informed the court that local government elections were held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in February 2022, after which the newly elected representatives took oath and began performing their duties.

However, the provincial government soon began efforts to control these representatives and unjustifiably reduce their powers. In 2022, the government amended the Local Government Act.

He argued that these amendments withdrew several powers from the elected representatives, including the authority to utilize development funds, which were instead given to the district administration and other departments.

The counsel added that these changes were politically motivated, as opposition parties had gained a majority in the first phase of elections, and the government sought control over them.

He stated that most of the powers had been removed from the Act and transferred to the rules.

Specifically, amendments were made to Sections 23-A and 25 of the Local Government Act, affecting the composition of the Tehsil Local Government as per the 2019 framework.

He emphasized that the 2019 Act had satisfied the stakeholders and the elections were held under it.

Babar Khan highlighted that the 2022 amendments stripped powers from tehsil mayors and village council members, leaving them without any funds.

For the past three years, local representatives have been facing uncertainty, with public pressure on one hand and no funds on the other.

He argued that if the government wanted to introduce such changes, it should have applied them to future elections.

Since the current representatives were elected under the 2019 Act, applying new amendments immediately was unconstitutional and should be struck down.

The additional advocate general, during the hearing, defended the amendments by stating that they were made lawfully and aimed at ensuring the rightful functioning of local government, asserting that the provincial government had the authority to enact such changes, which were also presented before the provincial assembly.

After hearing both sides, the bench declared the amendments made by the KP government, which took back powers and cut funding from local representatives, as null and void, and accepted the petitions filed against them.