PESHAWAR: A two-member Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday sought comments from the provincial government on Awami National Party provincial parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak’s petition against several provisions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 1913.

Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Daud Khan also issued notice to the government after the counsel for Mr Babak prayed that holding of village council/neighbourhood council elections on non-party basis be declared unconstitutional as it would pave way for horse trading.

The bench ordered the respondents, including the provincial government through the chief secretary and the provincial secretary of local government, to file comments within a fortnight. The next date of the hearing into the case will be fixed later on.

Abdul Lateef Afridi and Khushdil Khan, lawyers for the petitioner, contended that their client had also challenged the creation of village and neighbourhood councils saying the creation of thousands of such councils would exert unbearable economic pressure and burden on the already weak local councils.

They said political parties would contest elections through party symbol in tehsil and district elections, while they would be stopped from taking part in village and neighbourhood council elections on party-basis, which was against the law, democratic norms and justice.

The petitioner also challenged the provision empowering the chief minister to suspend a nazim of a local council, contending that the said powers should vest with the body, which was empowered to elect a nazim.

The lawyers said such powers would be arbitrarily used by the chief minister and would bring the nazims under his influence and would therefore not in a position to act in independent manner.