Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday adjourned for further arguments the hearing of a petition challenging the newly promulgated local government law in the Punjab.
The chief justice directed the petitioner’s counsel to explain how the new law was in conflict with Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, as he claimed in his petition.
Petitioner Rizwan Gul’s lawyer submitted that the Punjab Local Government Act of 2013 negated the concept of devolution and of dealing with issues at the grassroots.
He said that the Punjab Assembly, on August 21, had passed the law even though it contained several questionable provisions reducing the number of women representatives, allowing non-elected government employees control of financial matters, giving the chief minister powers to interfere in local governments, and conducting party-less elections.
He said that the new law also ignored the provisions of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, which detail the qualification and disqualification criteria for members of parliament. He said that this was a violation of fundamental rights and democratic norms and asked the court to declare the law to be unconstitutional.
Luxury tax
Also on Wednesday, an LHC division bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan has issued notice the Punjab government for September 24 on a petition challenging a new luxury tax on houses of two or more kanals in parts of the city.
The petitioners, mostly residents of Garden Town, submitted that the tax on residential house located in areas specified as Category A under the Punjab Urban Immovable Property Tax Act, 1958, was illegal.
The government intends to collect Rs500,000 each from owners of houses on two to four kanals, Rs1 million from owners of houses on four to eight kanals, and Rs1.5 million from owners of houses on more than eight kanals in A areas. The Excise and Department has started issuing notices to property owners for the payment of the tax.
The petitioner argued that the government already charged property tax and the new tax was against the principle of natural justice. They said that levy of the luxury tax in selective areas was discriminatory as it was not being imposed in upscale areas like Cantonment and Defence.
They asked the court to set aside the notices issued to them by the Excise and Taxation Department as unconstitutional.
Aitchison
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the LHC on Wednesday issued notices to the Aitchison College administration for September 19 to respond to a petition moved by 70 sacked employees challenging their terminations.
The petitioners submitted that the college administration had sacked them without giving them show cause notices and before their contracts had expired. They said that the Punjab government had in 2009 ordered the school to form a committee to regularise contract employees, but the college administration had sacked them instead. They said that the terminations were a violation of their basic rights. They asked the court to declare their sacking illegal and order the college to reinstate them.
A lawyer representing the school sought more time to file a reply to the petition. The court accepted his plea and granted him one week to do so.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2013.