ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar observed on Friday that the Local Government (LG) law of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was full of errors and it seemed as if the law was copied and pasted by taking from somewhere else and that too was in haste.
The Supreme Court (SC) reserved the judgment in a case pertaining to the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013 after hearing the counsels for the parties.
Making an amendment to the KP Local Government Act 2013, the provincial government had inserted Clause 78-A to discourage floor crossing. Under the said amendment, the chairman of any party can issue a declaration to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for de-notifying a successful candidate for violating the party discipline.
Heading a three-member bench of the apex court, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar asked Kamran Murtaza, counsel for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI–F) although floor crossing was wrong but where the direction was given by his client to its representatives.
“Was that direction from the party in written form or it was conveyed orally?,” Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar asked the learned counsel adding as to whether an affidavit of a responsible person of party was available on the form that they had instructed the party representatives to vote for such and such candidate.
Kamran Murtaza however, replied that as their party candidate Salauddin and Samiullah were contesting for the seats of Nazim and Naib Nazim hence as per rules there was no need of awarding ticket or issuing any instruction either in writing or orally to the party representatives.
He further said that the appellants voted to opposite party candidates, despite of party directions hence on the declaration issued from the party chief, the Election Commission of Pakistan de-notified five district councilors of Lakki Marwat after they violated the party’s instructions.
The chief justice remarked that no such instructions were available on the record, so how these representatives could be removed. The learned counsel however, informed the court that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had also sacked its District Nazim, Abbottabad on the same ground.
The chief justice then observed that the LG law of KP was full of errors and it seemed as if it was just copied and pasted in haste. He said no one bothered to examine the law. Justice Faisal Arab noted that it was not clear who were the candidates in Lakki Marwat. He said if there was no candidate of a party, the voter was free to cast his vote to any of the candidates. Later, the court reserved the judgment.
