Mayor takes power struggle to court

PHC petition wants notification annulled which hands over financial powers to local council board

PESHAWAR:

Tehsil chairpersons, including Peshawar Mayor Haji Zubair Ali, have moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the Secretary Local Government’s decision to hand over the financial and administrative powers to local council board.

In the petition, PHC has been requested to cancel the notification issued by the Secretary LG. In this regard, Mayor Peshawar has filed a writ petition through his lawyer Muhammad Farooq Afridi Advocate.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary, Secretary Local Government, Chairman Local Council Board, Secretary Finance and others have been made respondents in the petition.

It may be recalled that the government has issued a notification authorizing officers ranging from grade 19 to grade 17 to utilize funds at Union Council level.

According to the official notification, the District Development Working Party (DDWP) will have the authority to approve projects worth up to Rs200 million, while the District Development Committee (DDC) and Tehsil Development Committee (TDC) will have the power to approve projects worth Rs60 million and Rs20 million, respectively.

The board has set certain conditions for the approval of projects, under which the projects will be sent to the Planning and Development (P&D) Department for approval. The projects will be referred to the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) for further consultation.

If a project involves any subsidy or foreign funds aid, then PDWP will be the competent authority to approve it. Along with this, the secretary will have full authority for administrative approval.

In the petition, a stance has been taken that under Article 32 of the Constitution, local government institutions in the country will be encouraged so that elected representatives at the grassroots level can serve the public.

The constitution says that every province will have a local government system and that the local government will be given financial and administrative powers. The Constitution further stipulates that it is the responsibility of the government to transfer powers to the grass root level, the plea noted.

In this regard, the Local Government Act was also passed in 2013 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to regulate all these issues.

However, Local Government Secretary Daud Khan has issued a notification on 12 July. In the notification, the financial and administrative powers related to development projects at the local council level have been entrusted to the Secretary Local Council Board.

The petition states that this move will not only affect the effectiveness of councils, but also abolish the existence of local government under Article 140A of the Constitution.

According to the notification of the Secretary Local Government, all the administrative and financial powers have been given to the Secretary Local Council Board. However, under the Local Government Act 2013 and 2019, transfer of powers can be done only through amendments in the provincial assembly.

According to Mayor Peshawar Haji Zubair Ali, the main function of the Local Council Board is to handle matters related to appointment, promotion, transfer and pension.