ISLAMABAD: The Sup­reme Court on Wednesday took the Punjab chief secretary to task over seven months’ delay in implementation of the March 25 court order for restoration of local government institutions in the province.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, however, ordered Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal and Local Government and Commu­nity Development Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal to come up with a positive response within a week for the delay in implementation of the court order.

The SC had taken up a contempt petition moved by 15 chairmen of different zila councils and mayors for not allowing the local governments in Punjab to resume functions.

On March 25, the Supreme Court had directed the provincial government to immediately restore local government institutions after declaring Section 3 of the Punjab Local Govern­ment Act (PLGA) 2019, whereby the local bodies were dissolved, ultra vires of the Constitution.

The apex court had also ruled that the local governments as existing in the Punjab before promulgation of PLGA Section 3 stood restored and it should complete its term in accordance with the law, which was expiring on Dec 31, 2021.

On Wednesday when the court took up the case, the chief justice while pointing towards the chief secretary wondered that he had to show his remorse for not implementing the court order and wondered why the provincial administration had taken so much time when it had to simply obey the order by opening accounts, transferring funds, issuing notification for restoring the local government institutions and handing over the charge to their members etc.

The order should have been implemented immediately, the chief justice observed. “Is it your conduct as a government officer,” the chief justice observed, also reminding the official that the court had called him not to hold a discussion about what the government had done with the order.

“You have taken the March 25 order for a ride and you are playing with the fire,” the chief justice observed, also wondering if this was how the chief secretary respected courts.

“This is a deliberate attempt to defy the court orders,” the chief justice observed, while reminding the officer that the court could simply frame a charge against him and send him to jail straight from the court and then his entire career would end. He said the court had sufficient material against him as he was sitting in office and knew nothing.

Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan observed that the chief secretary would have to give an explanation in a categorical manner why the March 25 order had not been implemented till date. “What steps the provincial government has taken to restore the local government institutions and why there has been a delay of seven months in the implementation of the order?” he observed.

Chief Justice Ahmed regretted that incompetence was evident at the highest level of Punjab government.

Justice Ahsan also reminded him that the court order was a judgement under the Constitution and he had to implement it in letter and spirit irrespective of his opinion or the policy of the government.

The petitioners in the contempt petition had argued that the respondent government (Punjab) was duty bound under the Constitution to entrust the transition of powers smoothly and without any interruption to the petitioners and other members of the local governments, but it was doing all it could to hamper the transfer of power to the petitioners.

According to the petition, members of local government institutions are not being allowed to return to their offices and exercise powers as the Punjab government is exercising control over local governments through administrators appointed according to the May 4, 2019 notification.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2021