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Deputy Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Muhammad Moeenuddin Riaz. Photo: SCREENGRAB
LAHORE:
Lawmakers from the opposition PTI in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging several provisions of the recently passed Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) 2025 as violating the Constitution.
The petition, filed by opposition leaders Moeenuddin Riaz, Hafiz Farhat Abbas and Ali Imtiaz, claims the legislation, passed last month amid fierce opposition protests, undermines the autonomy of local governments.
The Punjab government has been named as the respondent in the case, which will be heard by Justice Sultan Tanvir, according to the petitioners’ lawyer, Abuzar Salman Niazi.
The plea alleges that Sections 15, 32, 25, 40, 55, 56 and 57 of PLGA 2025 are “unconstitutional, unreasonable [and] illegitimate”, alleging that they “blatantly and flagrantly contravene” Articles 8, 9, 17, 32 and 140-A of the Constitution, which relate to fundamental rights, freedom of association, promotion of local government institutions and constitutional status of local bodies.
According to the petition, “a careful reading of the PLGA, 2025, makes it crystal clear that the same is a restrictive law intended to curtail and curtail the powers of elected representatives of the local governments”.
Opposition MPAs argue that the Act, rather than empowering local bodies, consolidates the authority of the provincial executive and violates the spirit of decentralization envisaged in Article 140-A.
