MULTAN, Feb 6: The Lahore High Court, Multan bench, suspended on Tuesday Muzaffargarh District Naib Nazim Syed Ali Raza Shamsi for not calling a budget session of the district council. The court also directed the Muzaffargarh district and sessions judge to summon the district council session in 10 days.

District nazim Jatoi had filed a petition, stating that the government was creating problems for him after he had refused to join the ruling party. He said the council had passed budget according to law but the provincial government had objected to it and had not released funds.

Justice Jahangir Arshad said Shamsi violated the Local Council Act and showed dishonesty by not calling the session.

The court sent the case of suspension of the naib nazim to the Punjab Local Government Commission.

Justice Arshad rejected a budget prepared by the local body secretary that was presented in a meeting held by the district naib nazim on Jan 21.

He took note of the Jan 21 meeting wherein MNAs, MPAs and union council nazims met on the premises of the Canal Rest House at Tulheeri. According to the naib nazim, it was a budget meeting of the district council.

The court ruled the meeting was against the law and amounted to contempt of court. He ordered Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, the district and sessions judge, to call and preside over the budget meeting in 10 days and ask the district nazim to present the budget in the meeting.

He also told Aslam to issue invitation letters to district council members for the session.

Jatoi said the decision was victory of democracy and people of Muzaffargarh.

He announced that his government would give Rs10 million to each nazim for development projects without any discrimination and Rs2.5 million to each member of district council elected on special seats.

Qaim Ali Shah, MPA and brother of the district naib nazim, said that they would move court against the suspension and a no-confidence-move against Jatoi would be submitted in the first session of the council. He said that the move would succeed because Jatoi had started conflict with the government that led to the suspension of funds.

He said that he would resign from the council if the no-confidence move failed.

He said that his brother had held the budget meeting following court’s orders and earlier no budget session was called because the case was in court.

He said the budget was prepared by the local body secretary on Jan 21 and he was authorised under the local bodies act.

He said that all the political groups had agreed to remove Jatoi while PML President Chaudhry Shujat Husain would decide new candidate for the top local council slot. He said former district nazim Sultan Mehmood Hanjra was not among probables for the office.

Pro-Jatoi UC nazim Munna Sheikh said that the plan of no-trust move had been buried with the suspension of the naib nazim.

He said there had been no development activity in the district for the last one-and-a-half-year and the chief minister was responsible for the deadlock. Another UC nazim from the Jatoi camp, Jamshid Dasti, told Dawn the Punjab government was using police to change the loyalties of nazims against Jatoi.

He said that police had implicated the supporters of the district nazim in terror cases but Jatoi would not take any action against his opponents and would give funds to the all nazims.

Dasti has also filed a petition against the district coordination officer and the district police officer for stopping the district government from collecting revenue and toll tax.

Meanwhile, Jatoi has filed another petition against the DCO for not complying with his orders and seducing people against him.