The court gave a brief verdict on the petition filed for local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A three-member larger bench of the Peshawar High Court declared the election unconstitutional on an impartial basis.

He directed the Election Commission to hold Mohalla and Town Council elections as per party policy. The Peshawar High Court also directed the Election Commission to take necessary steps to hold elections on behalf of political parties.

Akram Khan Durrani of JUI-F, Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami and Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, Khushdal Khan and Hamitullah Mayar have filed petitions against the local body elections. The court granted the petition in part.

State local government elections may be postponed following a court ruling.

According to Election Commission sources, the calendar will be affected after the decision to hold local government elections according to the contest. The Election Commission contacted the state government after the court decision, and the state government asked for time to discuss the court decision. The ECP said it would decide on the election calendar after consulting the government.

In this regard, Minister of State Kamran Bangash said that the next course of action was decided in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday keeping in view the situation arising out of the Local Government Act, Election Commission and Supreme Court decisions. 

In addition, the government has restored local government accounting under the Local Government Act 2013. Following the instructions of Secretary Local Government Noorul Amin Mengal, guidelines for accounting operations have been issued to the CEO.

According to a local government spokesman, the competent authority will be responsible for transferring funds from the account established under the 2019 Act to the account created under the 2013 Act. Existing funds in your account will be transferred by cross check.

Local government revenue, PFC shares and taxes should all be transferred immediately to the bank account established in 2013. No more transactions can be made with bank accounts established under the Local Government Act 2019.

Employees’ salaries, pensions, electricity bills, petrol and other expenses will continue to be paid. Officers have been assigned direct debit responsibilities. According to the guidelines issued, local agencies can manage and manage finances without any hassle.