Restoration of LG system: Punjab govt files review petition in SC

ISLAMABAD: The government of Punjab on Monday requested the Supreme Court to suspend its order passed on March 25, restoring the local government system in the province after declaring Section 3 of the Punjab Local Bodies Act 2019 as ultra vires to the Constitution.

Chief secretary Punjab, secretary Local Government and Community Development and secretary Law Department, Punjab filed a review petition in the Supreme Court under Article 188 of the Constitution against its order passed on March 25, 2021.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on March 25 had restored the Local Government System in Punjab and declared Section 3 of the Punjab Local Bodies Act 2019 as ultra vires to the Constitution.

The court had allowed petitions challenging the Punjab Local Bodies Act 2019.The Punjab Local Government Act 2019 was passed by the provincial legislature in May, 2019. Asad Ali Khan and others who were elected as mayors under the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 for a period of five years had challenged the Punjab Local Bodies Act 2019.

In its review petition, filed on Monday, the Government of Punjab submitted that the order passed by the apex court on March 25, 2021 has given rise to an anomalous situation because the constituencies of the local government structure envisaged by the Act of 2013 do not exist anymore having been replaced by the new system envisaged by the Act of 2019 and therefore, the restored representatives cannot possibly be accommodated in the new structure.

The provincial government contended that it would incur billions of rupees to give effect to the impugned order to roll back the transitions and afterwards on completion of the directed term extended only to a few months, billions of rupees would again be required to implement the new local government system envisaged in PLGA-2019.

Similarly, the provincial government submitted that it took several months in transition to new and more effective local government law and the said process after taking effect and constitution of new local governments is irreversible as it would take several months in transition back to the previous local government system and that too in few months to allow the dissolved local governments to complete the remaining term.

“The local government system under PLGA 2013 does not fulfil the requirements of Article 140-A of the Constitution which has been restored vide impugned order for the time being,” the Punjab government contended.

It further submitted that the local governments constituted under Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA)-2013 cannot be restored as the local governments constituted under PLGA-2019 have been performing their functions for a considerable time period and certain liabilities towards third parties have been accrued in the form of award of contract for execution of developments works/schemes with respect to service infrastructure etc.

The Provincial government prayed the apex court to accept its review petition and the judgment passed by it on March 25, 2021in the constitution petition of 7, 2020 may be reviewed and the same may be set aside in the best interest of justice.