• SHC issues notices to Election Commission, others for today • Orders of Korangi East and Central administrators also challenged

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan, chief secretary and local government secretary for Wednesday (today) on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf challenging appointment of administrators in six districts ahead of the second phase of the local government elections in violation of the Election Act.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Kausar Sultana Hussain also put on notice the deputy attorney general and advocate general to file their respective comments on behalf of the federal and provincial authorities and adjourned the hearing till today.

The PTI had challenged the transfer of the six officers from different provincial departments and their subsequent posting as administrators in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions before the conduct of the LG polls scheduled for Jan 15.

It cited the Sindh chief secretary, LG secretary, ECP through its secretary and provincial election commissioner as respondents.

The opposition party, through its MPA Bilal Ahmed Ghaffar, submitted that it had come to their notice that the chief secretary was engaged in pre-poll rigging, adding that he had violated the ban on transfers and postings imposed by the provincial election commissioner.

He further submitted that the province’s top bureaucrat had maliciously, arbitrarily, discriminatorily and without a prior written approval from the ECP and in total connivance had transferred six officers and placed their services at the disposal of the provincial LG department for their onward appointment as administrators for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, District Municipal Corporations (DMCs) of Karachi’s East, Central and Korangi districts, administrator for Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) and Hyderabad division commissioner by issuing illegal notifications dated Dec 8 and 19, 2022.

The petitioner added that subsequently the secretary LG department had appointed Dr Syed Saifur Rehman (PAS-BS-20) as KMC administrator, Nadeemur Rehman as Hyderabad commissioner, Syed Shakeel Ahmed as DMC-East administrator, Furqan Atyub and Muhammad Sharif as administrators of DMC-Central and Korangi while Muhammad Farooque (BPS-18) as administrator of HMC.

PTI counsel Shahab Imam submitted that these officers were transferred from the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution, Sindh Workers Welfare Board, Labour and Human Resources Department and put at the disposal of the LG department through impugned notifications issued in utter violation of the Section 5(4) of the Election Act, 2017.

“It is pertinent to mention that even the caretaker government is not competent to issue transfer and postings notification as envisaged under Section 230(2)(f) of the Election Act, 2017,” he added.

He pointed out that placing the services of the ex-cadre lower echelons government servants at the disposal of the LG department for further postings against the cadre post of administrator had contemptuously violated the dicta laid down by the Supreme Court in its landmark judgement reported in 2013.

He submitted that the PTI Sindh chapter president and his legal counsel had informed the ECP and provincial election commissioner regarding the illegal and unlawful actions, but the ECP failed to discharge its constitutional duty, as it had taken no action so far.

The counsel recalled that the petitioner sent letters to the ECP and Sindh election commissioner, but they had failed to take any appropriate action against the chief secretary and LG secretary by declaring the notifications regarding the officers’ transfers and postings as ‘null and void ab initio’ as done previously.

The petitioner pleaded the court to declare the notifications issued by the chief secretary illegal, mala fide, without lawful authority and of no legal effect as null and void ab initio.

The court was also requested to restrain the authorities from carrying out transfers and postings of these officers till culmination of the second phase of the LG polls.

A direction was also sought for the ECP and provincial election commission to discharge their constitutional duty of holding free, fair and transparent elections.

Published in Dawn, january 4th, 2023