LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the Punjab government on a petition of Faisalabad mayor Razzaq Malik seeking issuance of a notification (in his favour) in respect of the period he remained out of office till the restoration by the Supreme Court.

The petitioner’s counsel, Awais Khalid, contended before the court that petitioner was holding the office of mayor being duly elected through an electoral process under the Punjab Local Government, 2013 for a term ending on Dec 31, 2021.

He said the petitioner’s democratic term of five years was curbed through section 3 (1) of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2019. He said the petitioner, being aggrieved, along with other elected members of the local government approached the apex court whereby the court passed a judgment restoring the LG system.

The counsel argued that the vested right accrued in favour of the petitioner could not be taken away by the illegal actions of the government. He said the government was bound to follow the SC judgement and its failure was not less than defiance and an endeavor to frustrate the law declared by the court.

He asked the court to direct the government to issue a notification in respect of 24 months, the period the petitioner remained out of his office of the mayor, as dictated by the SC. He also urged the court to restrain the government from holding LG elections till expiry of the petitioner’s tenure.

Justice Jawad Hassan sought a reply from the government by Sept 22.

dismissed: The LHC dismissed a petition seeking removal of Governor Chaudhry Sarwar allegedly for not playing his role to avert sugar crisis in the province.

Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir observed that the governor enjoyed constitutional immunity and no petition could be filed against him.

Shahid Orakzai filed the petition pleading that the governor failed to fulfill his responsibilities under article 105 of the Constitution and did not ask the provincial government to change its decision of giving subsidy on sugar.

He said the governor, being incapable of performing his duties, should be removed from the office.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2021