Govt incurs CJ's ire in LG powers case

Top judge says authorities deliberately delaying response

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court has once again issued a notice to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, asking for a response within 14 days on a petition filed against the transfer of financial and administrative powers from mayors and tehsil chairmen to the Local Council Board secretary.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Ishtiaq Ibrahim remarked that it seems the government deliberately does not want to submit a response as it does not want to grant powers to local representatives.

He questioned how the government could weaken the elected local representatives, and suggested that relevant parties be asked to respond. If no response is received by the next hearing, the case will be decided based on the available records.

The case was heard by a two-member bench consisting of Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, and Justice Waqar Ahmad. Advocate Farooq Afridi represented petitioning Peshawar Mayor Haji Zubair Ali.

He informed the court that under Article 32 of the Constitution, local government institutions are encouraged to ensure that elected representatives can serve the people at the grassroots level. Similarly, each province should have a local government system with financial and administrative powers, and it is the government's responsibility to transfer these powers to the local level.

Afridi explained that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act was passed in 2013 to regulate these matters. However, a recent notification issued by the local government secretary, on July 12, 2024, transferred financial and administrative powers related to developmental projects at the local council level to the Local Council Board secretary.

He argued that this step has not only undermined the effectiveness of the councils, but also violated Article 14A of the Constitution, effectively ending the existence of local governments.

According to the notification from the LG secretary, all administrative and financial powers have been handed over to the Local Council Board secretary.