PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday sought comments from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Commission and local government secretary about a petition filed by Mardan district nazim and naib nazim against the issuance of show cause notices to them by the commission for the alleged misconduct in the passage of annual budget.

A bench consisting of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth issued notices to the KPLGC through its chairman, and local government secretary and director general following arguments by the petitioners’ lawyer, Arbab Usman Khan.

District nazim Himayatullah Mayar and naib nazim Asad Ali, belonging to Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party respectively, have stated that the impugned show cause notice was issued to them on basis of political victimisation.

In the show cause notice issued on July 11, both the petitioners were asked to submit their written reply within seven days. It was added that they had committed misconduct and they should show cause why not their removal from office should be recommended to the competent authority.

PHC asks LG Commission, official to explain position about notice issued over alleged misconduct

The petitioners’ counsel Arbab Usman stated that earlier on May 6, 2016, the petitioners were suspended by the KP chief minister for a period of 30 days on the ground that they had not passed the annual budget of the district in accordance with law.

He added that it was alleged that the budget was not passed by simple majority of the total members of the district council.

He argued that the high court had on May 24 accepted an earlier writ petition of the petitioners against their suspension by the chief minister and the same judgment was upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The counsel stated that as the petitioners belonged to opposition parties, therefore, the government was bent upon removing them from their offices by all means.

He added that in the same connection the KP local government commission issued the impugned show cause notice to the petitioners so as to remove them from their offices. He added that in the show cause notice the same charges were leveled against the petitioner on the basis of which they were earlier suspended by the chief minister.

The show cause notice alleged that bogus signatures of three of the members of the council were put on the attendance sheet on Dec 10, 2015, the day when the budget was passed.

It added that the budget was not passed by majority of the total membership of the council.

The commission has also asked the petitioners why the budget proceedings of Dec 10 shall not be declared as null and void and as a result the budget passed shall not be set aside.

The petitioners have denied allegations and claimed that three of the members who the government claimed had lodged complaints with the commission were in fact not present on the day of passage of the budget and their signatures were also not present on attendance sheets.

They said the district council unanimously passed the ‘salary budget’ of the devolved district departments on Oct 22, 2015, and in continuation of the budget proceedings, the council later passed the Annual Development Programme on Dec 10 by a simple majority i.e. 59 of the total 112 members.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2016