CJ asks Sindh govt not to delegate any authority to local government until the next hearing. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-judge bench, heard the petition filed by Sindh Bachayo Committee.
The chief justice asked the Sindh Government not to delegate any authority to local government until the next hearing, which is scheduled for January 16.
Government’s counsel, Anwar Mansoor requested the court for two weeks time before he can present further arguments, as he will be abroad for medical care.
Background
The ordinance is seen as a product of negotiations between coalition partners Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad promulgated the ordinance on September 7, ending months of deadlock between the two parties.
The ordinance was then passed by the Sindh Assembly.
The move, however, triggered widespread protests in Sindh with nationalist, religious and political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and government allies such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) and Awami National Party (ANP) collectively rebuffing the new local government bill.
Opponents of the newly enacted bill claim the law is a conspiracy to divide Sindh (given its separate treatment of urban centres). Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Larkana and Sukkur are given status of divisions in the new governing system with mayors heading the metropolitan corporations of all five divisions.
The polarisation caused by the act, which was passed in the Sindh Assembly despite strong opposition from the law’s critics, led to ANP and PML-F parting ways with the PPP-led ruling coalition in Sindh. Nationalist parties have also held a number of strikes against the new law, leading to sporadic violence in the rural areas of the province.
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