Petition restraining govt from holding polls dismissed

Petitioner Khushdil Khan claimed Section 10 of LG Act 2013 in violation of Constitution .

PESHAWAR: A petition seeking to restrain the provincial government from holding local government (LG) elections on the basis of delimitation carried out by the government earlier was dismissed by the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday.

A two-member bench of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Muhammad Daud Khan dismissed the petition after the provincial government produced an order of the Supreme Court declaring Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s delimitation valid.

The petition was filed by former provincial assembly deputy speaker Khushdil Khan who made the secretaries of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), local government and rural development, and law and parliamentary affairs departments as well as the provincial chief secretary and deputy commissioner (DC) of Peshawar respondents.

Khushdil informed the court that the provincial government enacted the K-P Local Government Act 2013 and constituted an authority for delimiting village councils, neighbourhood councils and territorial wards for general seats of tehsil, town and district councils.

He added the delimitation of local councils was carried out in all districts of the province and the exercise was carried out by the Peshawar DC in the district.

“In terms of Article 140 of the Constitution, elections for the local government are to be conducted by the ECP. It is the duty of the commission as provided under paragraph D of Article 219 as inserted by the Constitution (18th Amendment) Act 2010,” Khushdil said.

He added Section 10 of the LG Act 2013 read with LG Rules 2013 is in violation of article 140A, 219 (d) and 222 (b) of the Constitution because delimitation of local councils of the LG set-up is a part of the process of organising and holding LG elections which is the constitutional mandate of the ECP.

The former deputy speaker further said Section 10 of the LG Act 2013 and the rules framed under it are ultra vires (beyond the powers) of the Constitution as they empower the provincial government to carry out delimitation of constituencies/wards for local government.

Khushdil requested the court to bring the LG law in conformity with constitutional provisions and restrain the government from conducting elections on the basis of the delimitation it carried out in violation of the Constitution’s provisions.

However, Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousafzai told the court that with the exception of K-P, the Supreme Court had declared delimitation carried out in all other provinces invalid. There were no complaints against the delimitation done by the K-P government, said Yousafzai.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2015.