PHC issues notice to KP LG Commission

Mardan nazim, naib nazim case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday issued a notice to Local Government Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit a reply in a writ petition filed against issuance of show-case notice to Mardan district nazim and naib nazim for their failure to pass the budget by a simple majority and tampering with the meeting attendance sheet.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth issued notice to chairman, secretary and director general of Local Government Commission to submit reply in a petition filed against issuance of the show-cause notice by the Mardan district nazim and naib nazim.

Mardan District NazimHimayatullah Mayar and NaibNazim Asad Ali had filed the petition through their lawyer Khalid Mehmood. During the hearing, the lawyer submitted that the Local Government Commission on July 11 had issued a show-case notice to the Mardan district nazim and naib nazim with the plea that they had failed to pass the budget by simple majority as required under rules and tampering with the attendance sheet by faking signatures of some members.

Under the law, it was stated in the show-cause notice that they are required to submit a written reply to the Local Government Commission within seven days. Action will be taken against the district nazim and naib nazim if they didn’t submit their reply within the specified period. “Three members of the district council, including Salim Khan, Ayesha Bibi and ShamaBibi, said their signatures had been faked. The Forensic Science Laboratory had also declared the signatures of the three members as fake,” the commission claimed in the show-cause notice.

It said that three other district council members, Ahmad Sultan, Aqeela Begum and Farhat Shamim, claimed no show of hand had taken place during the budget session. They denied having voted in favour of the proposed budget.

According to the law, it is the duty of the assistant director of the Local Government and Rural Development to maintain proper record of the meeting of the district council.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Khalid Mehmood, said after his clients took oath of offices, the district council unanimously passed the ‘salary budget’ of the devolved district departments on October 22, 2015.

He said in continuation of the budget proceedings, the house later passed the Annual Development Programme on December 10 by a simple majority i.e. 59 of the total 112 members. The lawyer said the council unanimously approved the ‘salary and non-salary budget’ for its staff members on January 15, 2016. He said in compliance with the budget, the district government development committee headed by the district nazim was convened on February 16 wherein development schemes were approved.

The lawyer requested the court to declare the issuance of the show-cause notice to Mardannazim and naibnazim as illegal and unlawful.

Earlier on May 24, the PHC had declared the chief minister order of their suspension illegal and restored them as nazim and naibnazim.

The petitioners were suspended on the ground that they had not passed the annual budget of the district in accordance with law. The petitioners had refuted the allegations, claiming that the budget was passed in accordance with the provisions of the local government law.