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Deputy Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Muhammad Moeenuddin Riaz. Photo: SCREENSHOT
LAHORE:
Legislators of the opposition PTI party in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging several provisions of the recently enacted Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA), 2025, calling them a violation of the Constitution.
The petition, filed by opposition leader Moeenuddin Riaz, Hafiz Farhat Abbas and Ali Imtiaz, claims the legislation, passed last month amid violent opposition protests, undermines the autonomy of local governments.
The Punjab government has been named as a respondent in the case, which will be heard by Justice Sultan Tanvir, according to the petitioners’ lawyer Abuzar Salman Niazi.
The plea contends that Sections 15, 32, 25, 40, 55, 56 and 57 of the PLGA 2025 are “unconstitutional and unreasonable.” [and] illegitimate”, considering that they “openly and manifestly contravene” articles 8, 9, 17, 32 and 140-A of the Constitution, relating to fundamental rights, freedom of association, the promotion of local government institutions and the constitutional status of local authorities.
According to the petition, “a careful reading of the PLGA, 2025, clearly shows that it is a restrictive law intended to restrict and limit the powers of elected representatives of local governments.”
Opposition MPs argue that the law, rather than empowering local bodies, consolidates the authority of the provincial executive and violates the spirit of decentralization envisaged by Article 140-A.
