ISLAMABAD: Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance (SPGLO), 2012, which was issued a day earlier, has been challenged in the Supreme Court, DawnNews reported.

The petition against the ordinance was filed by 'Karachi alliance party' in Supreme Court's Karachi registry.

Governor Sindh, Chief Minister Sindh, Chief Secretary, Law Secretary and Local government secretary were being made party to the case by the petitioner.

The petitioner was of the view that the ordinance was violation of Article 4, 5, 25, 32 and 140 of the constitution.

The approval of the new local bodies’ structure has already brought into the open differences within the ruling coalition, with the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) terming the arrangement a virtual division of Sindh.

The SPGLO was promulgated soon after it was signed by Governor Ishratul Ebad in the small hours on Friday. It has kept intact all five districts in Karachi along with 18 towns, which would continue to function within their existing municipal limits.

Although the agreement was termed a big achievement of the coalition government, its copies were neither released to media nor made available to the allied parties.

Salient Features of the Ordinance

Under the SPLGO 2012 the metropolitan corporations were given the control of the basic civic provider institution while a number of sections of the 2001 and 1979 local government systems were included in the new ordinance, the informed sources confided to Dawn.

The commissionerate system had been made part of the new system as commissioner, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners would continue to look after the revenue, law and order and other administrative affairs while elected members would run the municipal bodies and metropolitan corporations independently.

The Building Control Authority would work as separate department while Water Board would work under the supervision of the mayor.

Similarly, the primary education system would be under the mayor and MDA, and Sindh Authority would be under the minister of the local government who would also be its chairman.

According to the first schedule, the metropolitan corporation had been authorised collection of property tax and determination of its rates while all primary schools, BHUs, RHUs and UHUs, child and woman health affairs, certain clauses of anti-encroachment cell, district roads and buildings of the works and services department would also be under the metropolitan corporation.

Besides, civil defense, community development and organisations, inland fisheries, social welfare, games and sports boards, finances relating to local government, budget and accounts, land and planning of KMC and KDA, planning and parking, mass transit, master plan, urban planning, land user control, land management, drinking water and its arrangement, reservoir, treatment plants and its distribution, sewers development, sewerage and its disposal, drainage and its boards falling with in the limits of the metropolitan corporation have also been transferred to the metropolitan corporations.