SHC grants JI petition, orders release of funds to towns, UCs

Orders completion of process for assignment of responsibilities to UC employees

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court has granted the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Ameer Engr Hafiz Naeemur Rehman’s constitutional petition, seeking immediate release of equal funds and monetary powers to towns and union committees, here on Monday.

The counsel for the petitioner, Usman Farooq Advocate, argued before the acting SHC chief justice, Aqeel Abbasi -led bench. Justice Mubeen Lakho was also a part of the two-member divisional bench.

During the hearing, the chief justice asked the additional advocate general, represting the government, to explain the reasons for delay in completion of local government elections.

In response, the governmental lawyer elaborated that by polls were under process gradually in some districts while the funds would be transferred after the completion of the process.

After the culmination of the hearing, the court ordered the government to release equal funds to all towns and union committees immediately.

It also ordered to complete the assigning of responsibilities to UC staffers. The JI leader had made the chief secretary Sindh and the local government secretary parties in the petition.

It had referred to the Article 140A of the Constitution of Pakistan to highlight the importance of the local government setup and mentioned that the elected representatives of the local government were made practically inactive by appointing interim officers in the local government despite oath taking of all of them.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2023.