PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday admitted a petition against the recent amendments to the provincial local government law, especially the provisions about powers of local body heads, to hearing.

Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim also issued a notice to the provincial advocate general asking him to respond to the petition filed by Mardan city mayor Himayatullah Mayar on next hearing.

The petitioner requested the court to declare unconstitutional the KP Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2022, which was enacted by the government last month.

He also sought orders for the suspension of action on the impugned changes to the law until the final disposal of the case as an interim relief.

Petitioner complains powers of local body heads curtailed

The respondents in the petition are the provincial government through the chief secretary and the secretaries of local government, law and parliamentary affairs departments.

The petitioner’s counsel, Babar Khan Yousafzai, didn’t show up in the court due to the lawyers’ strike, so he pleaded his case by himself.

He said while the KP Local Government Act, 2013, clearly spelled out the powers and functions of the mayors of city councils and the chairmen of tehsil as well as village and neighbourhood councils in the province, the recent amendments to the law removed them and declared that the local body heads would exercise and perform such powers and functions as prescribed by the rules.

Mr Mayar said that the election of local council mayors and chairmen, including him, were held under the KP Local Government Act (KPLGA), 2013, which defined the mode of the local government and the powers of the elected mayors and chairmen.

He said that Section 23(A) of the KPLGA defined the powers and functions of the chairmen of the tehsil local government, whereas Section 25(A) provided the powers and functions of the mayor, city local government.

The petitioner said that the provincial government had introduced the KP Local Government (Amendment) Bill in the assembly with mala fide intentions, while the house passed it on June 3 and it took effect on June 8.

He complained about the recent changes to sections 23A and 25A of the KPLGA, which, he said, were about the powers and functions of the local council chairmen and mayors, respectively.

Mr Mayar said that those amendments led to the removal of the powers and functions of local body heads from the law and their mention in the rules.

He contended that some other changes were also made to the law to increase the powers of the provincial government in relation to the elected local councils, whereas the powers of local governments had been curtailed.

The petitioner said that the elected representatives of local councils had contested elections under the KPLGA, which clearly defined their powers, so taking away those powers and functions through the amended law was a clear violation of the Constitution.

He said that under Article 140-A of the Constitution, each province should, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of local bodies.

Mr Mayar also said that articles 32 and 37(i) of the Constitution were meant to strengthen the local government system in the country.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2022