PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday suspended the chief minister’s order to suspend Mardan district nazim and naib nazim, both from the opposition, by issuing a stay order and restored them to their respective offices.

While issuing the stay order, a bench consisting of Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Qaisar Rasheed Khan served notices on the respondents, including the chief minister, to explain their respective positions on the matter today (Thursday).

The court issued the order after preliminary hearing into a petition jointly filed by district nazim Himayatullah Mayar of the ANP and naib nazim Asad Ali of the PPP, who have challenged the chief minister’s May 6 notification to suspend petitioners for 30 days over failure to get the budget passed by the district council with a simple majority.

Asks Pervez Khattak, other respondents to reply to joint petition of the two

The respondents in the petition are the chief minister through the chief secretary, the Local Government Commission through its chairman, provincial government through local government secretary, local government and rural development director general, chairman of the Mardan district advisory committee, and Mardan deputy commissioner.

Khalid Mehmood, lawyer for the petitioners, said after his clients took oath of their offices, the district council unanimously passed the ‘salary budget’ of the devolved district departments on Oct 22, 2015.

He said in continuation of the budget proceedings, the house later passed the Annual Development Programme on Dec 10 by a simple majority i.e. 59 of the total 112 members.

The lawyer said the council unanimously approved the ‘salary and non-salary budget’ for its staff members on Jan 15, 2016, while the previous proceedings regarding the approval of ADP 2015-16 in light of the approved budget were passed by a majority of its members on Jan 25.

He said in compliance with the budget, the district government development committee headed by the district nazim was convened on Feb 16 wherein development schemes were approved.

Khalid Mehmood said that district council unanimously approved certain guidelines in light of the budget on May 3 proving that there was no ambiguity about the passage of the budget by a majority of members.

He said the chief minister with ‘ulterior motives’ began political victimisation of the nazim and naib nazim, both from the opposition parties, issued a notification on May 6 to suspend them from their respective offices. The lawyer said the records didn’t show that the budget was not passed by majority of the members of the district council.

He said there was no provision in the KP Local Government Act for the suspension of district nazim and naib nazim over the failure to pass the budget.

Khalid Mehmood said the impugned notification had paralysed the Mardan district government and thus, hurting public interest.

He said the law didn’t suggest that in case of the suspension of nazim and naib nazim, how and who would run the functions of the district government concerned.

The lawyer said the chief minister’s notification against his clients was illegal and unconstitutional and was based on mala fide intentions.

Three additional advocates general also appeared before the court requesting it not to suspend the notification.

The bench however suspended the notification and decided to hear the case again today (Thursday).

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2016