SHC seeks comments on plea against non-provision of uplift funds to PPP MNAs

The Sindh High Court directed a federal law officer on Tuesday to file comments on behalf of the federal housing and works department on a petition filed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members of the National Assembly belonging to Karachi against the non-provision of development funds to them by the federal government.

Jam Abdul Karim, Syed Rafiullah and Abdul Qadir Patel, who were elected MNAs from three constituencies of Karachi, have submitted in the petition that the federal government had released more than Rs3.4 billion development funds to the Karachi MNAs of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its coalition partners; however, no funds had been granted to them as they belonged to the PPP, an opposition party in the National Assembly.

The petitioners’ counsel, Wazeer Hussain Khoso, submitted that the PPP MNAs represented the people of Karachi in the National Assembly from the constituencies of NA-236, NA-238 and NA-248, and they had not been provided funds by the federal government. He submitted that the act of the federal government was purely an act of discrimination and the non-disbursement of funds had taken place in view of political considerations with the intent to victimise people who were being represented by the petitioners.

He argued that the federal government had exercised discrimination by granting development funds to the ruling party and its coalition partners’ MNAs in Karachi, while ignoring the MNAs of the opposition benches.

The lawyer submitted that depriving the people of the constituencies who had elected the opposition MNAs of development works in their areas was discriminatory and unlawful. The SHC was requested to direct the federal government to release development funds for the respective constituencies of the PPP MNAs as well.

The federal law officer sought time to file comments on behalf of ministry of housing and works. A division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, directed the law officer to file comments at next date of the hearing.