LHC takes up petition on LG polls today

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court would take up on Tuesday (today) a writ petition seeking an order to restrain the Punjab government from announcing schedule for local government elections in the province.

Lahore Lord Mayor Col (retd) Mubashir Javed and other representatives of the local government filed the petition. They submitted that that the provincial government failed to restore local governments despite the Supreme Court issued its detailed judgement in the matter. They said the SC had ordered restoration of local bodies in the province after declaring their dissolution as unconstitutional The petitioners asked the court to declare that the term of office of LGs formed under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2013 was five years which LGs were sanctioned to complete.

They also asked the court to grant LG representatives 22 months in lieu of the months lost on account of their illegal dissolution. They urged the court to restrain the government from announcing election schedule in the province till the final decision of the petition.

On March 25, a three-judge bench of the SC had ordered restoration of local bodies in the province after declaring their dissolution unconstitutional.