Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Committee on Local Government Act 2019, expressed reservations on Election Commission’s reply to Supreme Court on Local in the case of holding LG polls.
The committee agreed that it was a matter of concern that the position of the Punjab government on the issue had been weakened by EC’s contradictory statement before the Supreme Court. “Had the facts been placed before the honourable court, it would not pass the remarks about Punjab that were made in the hearing last day otherwise,” the members added.
A meeting of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Committee on Local Government Act 2019, was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Senior Punjab Minister Abdul Aleem Khan.
The meeting was also attended by eight other ministers including Law Minister Raja Basharat, Mian Mahmood Rasheed and Chaudhry Zaheeruddin.
Briefing the committee on the hearing held in the Supreme Court, Secretary LG Noorul Amin Mengal said that the Election Commission had stated in the Supreme Court, that the Punjab government had not informed it before amending the Local Government Act 2019.
The Committee unanimously said that the statement of the Election Commission, that it was not informed earlier was contrary to the facts. “The fact is that the Punjab Law Minister, Chief Secretary and Secretary Local Government appeared before the Election Commission twice on behalf of the Punjab government and informed the Commission that the Punjab government wanted to amend the Punjab Local Government Act 2019 which was also acknowledged by the Election Commission in the minutes of its meetings. In which the Election Commission has admitted that it was stated by the representatives of the Punjab Government that the Punjab Government intended to introduce amendments in the said Act.”
The Committee further said that the minutes of meetings issued by the Election Commission automatically refute its statement in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan earlier on Monday expressed annoyance over the Punjab government for delaying holding of local governments’ elections in the province.
A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Tariq Masood conducted hearing of the local governments’ case. The bench lambasted the provincial government for issuing the Local Government Ordinance. Justice Faez observed that according to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), complications emerged due to the new local bodies’ law. He said that the new law simply means that the provincial government does not want to hold local bodies elections in Punjab.
The judge remarked that in the presence of 374 members of the Punjab Assembly, issuance of the Ordinance is a joke with the people of that province. He asked from the Additional Advocate General who is the Governor of Punjab. The AAG replied that Chaudhry Sarwar Khan is the Governor.
The bench referred the matter to the chief justice for constituting a three-member bench. The SC registrar was directed not to delay in fixing the cases related to elections.
