Supreme Court. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
ISLAMABAD: The Sindh government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday they had abolished election of women and youth on reserved seats in the local government polls following orders from the Sindh High Court.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, resumed hearing of the Sindh government’s appeal against the SHC judgment against their amendment of the Local Government Act 2013.
The Pakistan People’s Party-led Sindh government had amended the law to replace secret balloting with a show of hands for electing mayors and deputy mayors.
The move was challenged in the SHC by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) through identical petitions. The court had struck down the amendment but the Sindh government challenged it in the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, Sindh government’s counsel Farooq Naek told the apex court the SHC in its judgement striking down the amendments voided clauses B and C of sub-clause 2 of Section 18 of the local government law which reserved five per cent of seats in the council, while women seats were increased from 22 to 33 per cent.
“The entire order suffered from grave infirmity,” Naek said as he argued that the high court had no jurisdiction to strike down a legislation passed by parliament or the provincial assembly.
Naek went on to add that the SHC did not provide a mode for electing women and the youth on reserved seats and thus leaves the election process of local bodies and of the mayors and deputy mayors incomplete.
“Without the prayer and the arguments of petitioners the judgment declared the third amendment in SLGA 2013 ultra vires and also provided no reason to strike down the section 18A of the Act.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2016.
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