Eligibility: Plea for scrutiny parameters in local govt polls dismissed

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking the incorporation of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution for scrutiny of the candidates in the Punjab Local Government Act 2013. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf member Zubair Niazi had filed the petition through Advocate Sheraz Zaka saying there were no criteria for the scrutiny of candidates participating in local government polls. The counsel said the Constitution provided eligibility criteria for members of the national and provincial assemblies but the LG Act lacked parameters to gauge the qualification of candidates. He asked the court to order the government to include provisions of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution in the Local Government Act. Justice Shahid Karim, however, dismissed the petition for not being maintainable. The judge observed that the court could not dictate legislators.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2015.