Supreme Court restores local government system in Punjab

Dunya News

SC termed Section-III of the Local Government Act as unconstitutional.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has on Thursday restored the local government (LG) system in Punjab while terming Section-III of the Local Government Act, 2019 as unconstitutional.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, conducted the hearing over the matter pertaining to local government elections. The CJP inquired that why the Punjab government dissolved the local government system.

The petitioner’s counsel told the court that the provincial government, after assuming charge in 2018, dissolved the system and announced to conduct LG elections within a year. The government made an amendment as the deadline passed and then introduced the Local Government Act, he added.

Additional advocate general of Punjab told the court that the provincial government is ready to hold the local government elections and wants to shift the power to the grass-root level. The matter is pending in the Council of Common Interests (CCI), he added. The attorney general told the court that the CCI meeting is scheduled for April 7.