RAWALPINDI, Nov 24: The Punjab finance department has informed all district nazims and district coordination officers that development projects and cheques sent for approval without the authentication of relevant district assemblies and nazims could not get the go-ahead of auditor general of Pakistan (AGP).

According to a letter submitted to the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench by the lawyer of the district nazims of Rawalpindi and Attock on Monday, some district governments had sent different development projects without the authentication of relevant district councils or nazims seeking funds in violation of the Local Government Ordinance.

The counsel of Raja Javaid Ikhlas of Rawalpindi and Tahir Sadiq Khan of Attock filed the letter addressed to all the district nazims and the DCOs by the finance department with the court through a civil miscellaneous petition substantiating their main petition about unlawful audit conducted by the provincial government and interfering in the affairs of the district governments.

Tanveer Iqbal, the counsel, told this correspondent that the government had stopped the district councils and nazims from passing development schemes whereas the finance depart had termed all works without the authentication of the public representatives unlawful and in violation of the LGO.

Justice M. A. Zaffar of the LHC put off hearing of the case till November 26 after Additional Advocate General Qazi Amin informed him that some identical petitions of other nazims had been decided by the Lahore bench of the apex court in favour of the petitioners and the provincial government had filed an intra-court appeal against the verdict.

The district nazim of Rawalpindi has sought the intervention of the court in getting development schemes approved by the district assembly in the budget 2008-09.

The provincial government through executive orders had stopped the district governments from executing any development work without consent of the DCOs concerned.

The Attock nazim has challenged the budget estimates for the current fiscal year approved by the Punjab government through the DCO and bypassing of the budget approved by district council.