Local governments: ECP’s reply sought on plea against vote schedule

Court asks LDA to submit record on Khwaja Hassaan’s term as vice chairman

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to explain why it had not decided the representation of the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen regarding the schedule of local government elections.

The Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen had said the holy month of Muharram had started and according to the schedule the first phase of the polls would be held in the month.

It said the elections should be held after Muharram.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan directed a deputy attorney general to assist the court on the matter on October 21.

Earlier, the court had ordered the petitioner to approach the relevant forum [ECP] for relief.

NAB stopped from acting against ex-ETPB chief

Lahore High Court on Thursday stopped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from taking any action against former Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) chairman Asif Hashmi without its permission.

An LHC division bench, headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa, sought assistance from the attorney general on the legitimacy of the NAB Ordinance challenged by Hashmi.Hashmi submitted that the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) had held a detailed inquiry against him for selling ETPB land to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA). His counsel told the bench the trial was in final stage. He said several accused had been acquitted of the charges. He said the NAB, too, had launched an inquiry into the matter. He requested the court to restrain the NAB from taking action against the former board chairman. The bench adjourned the hearing till October 29.

NAB report sought on corruption complaint

Lahore High Court sought a report on Thursday from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on a petition concerning alleged corruption in the Lahore Metro Bus Service project.

The Pak-German Company, which deals in electrical equipment, has accused former Punjab Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Deputy Director Najaf Iqbal, Lahore Development Authority’s Shabana Najaf and one Faisal Farid of corruption. Advocate Khurram Masood Kiyani, counsel for the company, told a division bench that the officers had received millions of rupees from the petitioner. The company had provided electrical equipment for the project.He said the company had submitted an application to the NAB and provided evidence of corruption but the bureau had not taken any action. The lawyer requested the court to order the NAB to launch an inquiry against the respondents.

The bench, headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa, directed the NAB to submit a report on the matter in two weeks.

LHC seeks record of LDA vice chairman

Justice Shahid Karim of Lahore High Court on Friday summoned record from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) of the vice chairman’s office previously held by Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan, the returned candidate for union council 107 chairman.

Aziz Masood, one of the voters in the UC, had filed a petition through Advocate Sheraz Zaka saying that Hassaan had held the office of LDA vice chairman and was also a director of the Lahore Waste Management Company.

He said under Section 27 of the Local Government Act, 2013, a person in the service of a statutory body, controlled by a provincial government, was not eligible to contest local government elections. He said the returning officer concerned had accepted Ahmad’s nomination papers without deciding his objection. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2015.