LAHORE, July 13: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday declared as unconstitutional and illegal the order of the Punjab local government department secretary under which contracts were cancelled after approval by two tehsil councils of Sheikhupura. Setting aside the secretary’s order, the court accepted the petitions of contractors Usman Dogar and Mohammad Asif who contended that the secretary’s order was not only in conflict with the Punjab Local Government Ordinance but also a violation of various articles of the constitution.

The court observed that the secretary enjoyed no powers to interfere in the administration of local governments affairs and any such orders would be deemed as unlawful.

The petitioners submitted that they got contracts to collect various fee for the Sheikhupura and Farooqabad tehsil municipal administrations through a legal process in May. The two tehsil houses approved their bids and issued letters to start work.

The petitioners submitted that the secretary, through a letter issued on June 25, cancelled the contracts without giving any reason and an opportunity to hear them.

They contended that the secretary sought from the tehsil administrators report within 24 hours that his order had been implemented.

Petitioner Dogar submitted that his contract was cancelled because an MNA was interested in it.

He contended that the secretary’s order violated articles 4 and 5 of the constitution. The court also directed the tehsil administrations to restore the work permits in favour of the petitioners.