PSP challenges amended local government bill in SHC

The Pak Sarzameen Party has challenged the amendments to the Sindh Local Government Act recently passed by the Sindh Assembly in the Sindh High Court (SHC).

Filing on Wednesday a petition with the SHC, PSP Vice Chairman Arshad Vohra and other leader Syed Hafeezuddin submitted that the Sindh government had placed a bill for amendments to the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 (SLGA 2013), which was against the spirit of the Constitution, especially its Article 140-A.

They said that the amendment was in contravention to the articles 7,8,32 and 140A of the constitution as the Sindh government intended to grab all the rights of the third-tier of government, which was the local government.

They submitted that through the bill, the Sindh government wanted to take absolute rights over the province to make changes in the law unilaterally. They added that the schedule-II, Part-1 Sub-clause 5, 12 and 13 were omitted from the SLGA 2013, which were related to medical colleges, hospitals, milk supply schemes and control of land owned by the metropolitan corporation.

They said that the responsibilities of the local government related to birth certificates, death and marriage certificates, infection diseases and adult education had also been wrested by the Sindh government through the impugned bill.

They submitted that the provincial government had also tried to make amendments in the election of mayor and deputy mayor by changing the method of show of hands, which was against the norms of political system. They said that it was necessary that the selection of the mayor and deputy mayor shall be made by the way of showing hands in the joint session of the city council. The high court was requested to declare the amendment bill void for being against the dictum laid down in the articles 7,8,32 and 140-A of the constitution.