LARKANA, Aug 15: The Sindh High Court Larkana circuit bench issued notices to the provincial secretary local government and naib nazim of taluka council Larkana to appear on August 28 in connection with a petition filed by the nazim of taluka council Larkana for not approving the annual budget estimates for 2008-09 and the revised budget estimates for the year 2007-2008.

Counsel of petitioner Qurban Abbasi, Ashique Dhamraho advocate, maintained on Friday that he had also filed an application under section 151 Civil Procedure Code to seek permission for running the day- to-day financial affairs that would also come up for the hearing on same day.

The petitioner said that the naib nazim of Taluka council Larkana paid no heed to his letter on June 20, 2008 for convening the council’s meeting to approve the budget for the fiscal year 2008-09 which had already been reviewed and approved by the budget committee.

Two other letters on July 7 and July 22, 2008 were also sent to him but he knowingly did not convene the meeting of the council, the petitioner said.

The naib nazim, being the convener of the council, was bound to call the meeting of the council at least once in a month under section 69 {2} of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 but the council had not met since the last seven months. It showed that he had lost interest in calling the meeting and that was why the yearly budget was not passed, the petitioner said.

He said that by avoiding to convene the meeting, the naib nazim was politically motivated and linked it with the political grudge and revenge against the petitioner.

The employees did not get salary on August 1 as budget was not passed. It had also severely affected council’s performance, the petitioner said.

As the convener declined to convene the meeting, the budget was sent to secretary local government Sindh under section 112 sub section {8} of SLGO on July 25 for approval. But he did not approve it.

As a result the business of Taluka Council was stopped, the petitioner said. The employees of the council would agitate and come out on roads while people would face tremendous difficulties, particularly the sewerage, street light and sanitation, the nazim said.

He prayed the court to ask the secretary local government to approve the annual budget estimates 2008-09 and the revised budget estimates for the year 2007-2008 of Taluka Municipal Administration Larkana that had already been submitted to him. Both the petitions would come up for hearing on August 28.