Karachi mayor had filed a petition in the SHC in which he had maintained that the SSWMB was established under the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014, and was being run by the Sindh government since its establishment.dissolved for failing to perform. PHOTO: MOHAMMAD SAQIB
Resuming his arguments from where he had left on Thursday, Barrister Farogh Naseem said that the Sindh government should strictly adhere to the Constitution’s articles 137, 140-A and 142, which define the province’s limits to legislate and also bind it to devolve powers, functions and authority to the local governments.
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He questioned the utility of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) if it even lacked the powers to collect garbage.
The bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, observed that there were other problems facing the city that the KMC should also attend to.
However, the lawyer argued that the funds required to perform the tasks had not been given to the KMC deliberately.
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Barrister Naseem said the Supreme Court (SC) had already given its observations regarding non-functioning of the SSWMB and devolving the same to the KMC.
He argued that under the Article 140-A of the Constitution the province was bound to provide funds to the local government, adding that the KMC needed both funds and authority to deal with the issue of garbage.
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Justice Munib asked the lawyer whether the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014 under which the board had been established by the provincial government, was a special law.
Barrister Naseem informed the bench that the apex court had clearly interpreted the authority of the provincial legislature in its verdict and further clarified that any law wherein the provincial assembly will overstep its authority will be considered wrong.
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“In the present case, even the local government’s authority to collect garbage had been taken away by the provincial government,” the mayor’s lawyer alleged.
Naseem said that according to his knowledge, the SC had not mentioned in its decision that the local government’s authority could be taken away.
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While the lawyer continued his arguments, the bench rose for the day, fixing the matter on July 25, when Barrister Naseem will resume his arguments.
Case history
The mayor had filed a petition in the SHC in which he had maintained that the SSWMB was established under the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014, and was being run by the Sindh government since its establishment.
The mayor had referred to a SC verdict where it had been observed that the ‘non-functional board [SSWMB] has never performed its duties and should be dissolved to local bodies as provided under the rules of business’.
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He had contended that despite the directives of the SC, the relevant provincial authorities had not taken any steps to transfer the functions of the board to the elected local representative bodies.
Akhtar had pleaded to the court to direct the relevant authorities to transfer all the assets falling under the umbrella of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014, to the local government institutions.
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He had further requested the SHC to direct the respondents to give complete details of all the funds had received for the purpose of solid waste management and to appoint a reputable auditor to audit the financial matters of the board.
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