Local government polls: Contempt of court proceedings sought

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Friday issued a notice to the UC-107 (Lahore) returning officer in connection with a petition seeking the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against him for not deciding an objection petition against the candidature of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan. Aziz Masood, a constituent, filed the petition through Advocate Sheraz Zaka. He said the RO had violated court orders by not hearing his petition. The petitioner said Hassaan had already held public office by being the Lahore Development Authority vice chairman and had also gotten involved in local government by virtue of being a director of the Lahore Waste Management Company. He said Section 27 of the Local Government Act 2013 proscribed a person in service of a statutory body controlled by the provincial government from contesting local government elections. Masood said the RO had accepted Hassaan’s nomination papers without giving a verdict on his petition. He asked the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the official for flouting court orders.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2015.