LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday granted more time to the Punjab government to file a reply to petitions challenging the Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2025.

Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmed heard the petitions filed by Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Moinuddin Qureshi and MPAs Hafiz Farhat Abbas and Ali Imtiaz Warraich.

A government’s law officer appeared before the court and sought one-month time to submit a reply.

The judge, however, rejected the request for one month and directed the law officer to file the reply within two weeks.

Barrister Abuzar Salman Khan Niazi represented the petitioners.

The petitions mainly assailed the inclusion of bureaucracy in the district authorities and local governments, pleading that it violates Article 140A of the Constitution, which mandates the devolution of powers to elected representatives, not to the bureaucracy.

They stated that under the impugned law (PLGA 2025), political parties had been practically excluded from the local government electoral process.

The petitions pointed out that, as per new scheme, the chairman and vice chairman of a union council shall be elected from among its members and there would be no direct election for these positions.

They also assailed a provision of the new law, which empowers any agency, authority or entity performing functions related to the regulation of land use, building control, or private housing schemes within the territorial jurisdiction of a local government to retain up to 75 per cent of the revenue generated by such agency or authority.

The petitions asked the court to set aside the impugned PLGA 2025 for being inconsistent with and in derogation of fundamental rights provided in the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2025