LAHORE, July 30: Justice Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the election commission and other respondents for the second week of September in a petition challenging a no-confidence motion against the Sheikhupura district nazim.

The judge has told the respondents to reply to the points raised in the petition.

In his petition, Sheikhupura District Nazim Mian Jalil Ahmad Sharaqpuri has challenged the proceedings by a returning officer on a no-confidence motion against him. Sharaqpuri says he was elected district nazim on Oct 17, 2005 and he ran affairs of the local government “smoothly”.

“But after the general election of Feb 18, National and Punjab Assembly members belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz launched a campaign against me with the help of the district police officer to remove me.” He said a no-confidence motion was brought against him in March this year, but it failed. Later, another such motion was moved in July, which was “illegal and unwarranted”.

According to the Local Government Ordinance, if a no-confidence motion fails, the second motion cannot be brought before the lapse of one year, he said. The district naib nazim has no jurisdiction to direct the returning officer to conduct a secret ballot on the second no-confidence motion against him in his (Sharaqpuri’s) absence, he added.

Sharaqpuri prayed to the court to restrain the returning officer from conducting balloting on the no-confidence motion against him.

The judge ordered that the proceedings of the no-confidence move would be subject to the final outcome of the petition, which the court is hearing.