KARACHI, Jan 5: New districts were legally and rightfully created under the Sindh Land Revenue Act, 1967, and notified under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001
, and they urgently required new, representative local governments to run them smoothly, the provincial government said in its comments before the high court on Wednesday.
The chief election commissioner, who is the election authority for local governments, was immediately requested to hold early polls for the nazims and naib nazims of the eight reconstituted districts "and this shows the bona fides of the provincial government".
The government was fully empowered to carve out new districts under the Land Revenue Act and it was for the provincial revenue authorities and not the CEC to draw new local government constituencies, the comments submitted by Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan said.
According to the comments, the nazims and naib nazims were not removed but they ceased to hold their offices as no nazim or naib nazim could run two district governments under the law and the change in the complexion of their electoral college called for a fresh mandate through a new election.
The nazim and naib nazim, the provincial government said, work as a team and if the two belonged to separate districts after bifurcation, they could not stay in office.
It was not for the executive to pick and choose nazims and naib nazims, and the district coodination officers were temporarily given charge pending the election for new nazims and naib nazims. The government decided to go to fresh polls to give the new districts representative local governments and avoid confusion, according to the comments.
Appearing for three relieved nazims, Advocate Rasheed A. Razvi said the impugned notifications were not sustainable in law. Neither could the nazims and naib nazims be removed before completion of their tenure, nor electoral areas changed before the expiry of their term.
Any change in the local government constituencies could be given effect only at expiry of the four-year term. Section 186 (2) of the SLGO, under which the impugned notifications had been issued, was not available for the purpose.
It could be invoked only in the event of natural calamity or "conditions beyond human control". The notifications were also repugnant to Section 24 of the General Clauses Act and the norms of natural justice, the counsel submitted.
He emphatically requested for a writ of mandamus to restore the relieved nazims and naib nazims and a writ of quo warranto against the DCOs who replaced them. He said municipal offices had been held to be public offices by superior courts.
Representing the naib nazims of Larkana and Mirpurkhas, Advocate Abdul Majid Pirzada said it could not be a mere coincidence that the four largest districts of the province after Karachi and Hyderabad controlled by the opposition PPP were bifurcated and their nazims and naib nazims were removed.
He described the impugned notifications as a fraud on the statute and the Constitution. The mala fides of the government action, he said, were floating on the surface. Would a member of the federal or provincial legislature lose his seat if his district was bifurcated? Mr Pirzada asked. The impugned notifications did not advance the purposes of the law under which they had been issued.
According to the chief minister, he said, new local government polls were due in April and the government could have easily waited for a few months to effect the changes.
A division bench, comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Zia Pervez, adjourned the hearing to Jan 7 for arguments by the advocate-general. It observed that that it would like to hear the attorney general on his return home after Jan 10.
ATTACHMENT ORDERED: Justice Ataur Rehman of Sindh High Court ordered attachment of metro bus in lawsuit for recovery of Rs4.2 million in fatal accident case with direction to the excise department not to transfer it to the third party till further orders, add agencies.
Aziz Fatima sued Worldwide Motors, a bus service company, on part of negligence by its driver of metro bus which caused death of her spouse Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui on Feb 18, in a traffic accident in limits of Sachal police station.
It was pleaded to attach the metro bus No PE-4924 as there was a likelihood that defendants may remove the bus from the jurisdiction of court or may hand over to others for creating a third party interest.
The court, after preliminary hearing of the application, issued notice to the defendants and ordered SHO of Sachal to attach the bus and keep it under detention at some safe place at the cost of plaintiff and compliance report be submitted within seven days.
NOTICE TO NAB: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani and Justice Zia Pervez on Wednesday issued notice to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for Jan 11 while hearing a bail application moved by one Haji Adam Jokhio facing charges in a land case.
Appearing for the applicant, Mohammad Ashraf Qazi, advocate, submitted that no fraud had been committed by the applicant. The applicant submitted that the case is being investigated by the NAB and he had learnt that in May 1944, 30 acres of land was allotted to Mulla Pir Mohammad Brohi on a permanent basis at a rate of Rs20 per acre.
The counsel maintained that the heirs of Mulla Pir Mohammad have sold the land at a rate of Rs180,000 to the applicant. He said that the NAB was informed that record of revenue department was manipulated and 30 acres was made 330 acres and this forgery/ tampering of record was done by the revenue officials of Gadap Town, in collusion with the applicant.
The applicant maintained that on Dec 31, a police party raided his residence and inquired about his whereabouts. Anticipating arrest, Adam Jokhio prayed to the court for pre-arrest bail. The bench, after hearing the counsel for the applicant, issued notice to the NAB and directed that he should not be arrested till Jan 11.
