Daily Times

In a new development, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday dismissed federal government notification for suspension of Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz and the court asked him to resume his official duties with immediate effect.

The Capital’s Mayor, however, challenged the order in the High Court that subsequently took up his plea. The Federal Government last week, through a Ministry of Interior notification, removed Mayor from the post for 90 days.

Sheikh Ansar Aziz made the Federal Government, Ministry of Interior and the Local Government Commission parties to the case.

In his petition, the Mayor asked the Court to direct the parties to work within the parameters of the law. “The action taken against me is illegal,” Aziz maintained in the petition, requesting the court to turn down the Federal Government order and allow him to work till the final decision of the case pending in the Court.

Sheikh Ansar Aziz had been elected as the Mayor in March 2016 on the panel of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) following the first-ever local government elections in Islamabad held in November 2015. Aftermath of elections, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) established and developed major departments of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

According to the available information, the Government suspended in following with Local Government Commission’s (LGC) recommendations that is pre-dominated by members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The LGC in its last meeting held on May 14 had recommended to the Government to suspend the Mayor so that an inquiry relating to an alleged corruption reference could be initiated against him.

The Federal Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, through circulation, got approval of the decision to suspend the Mayor.

The Commission is headed by PTI’s MNA from Islamabad Ali Nawaz Awan, who is also a special assistant to the Prime Minister on the affairs of the capital’s civic agency known as CDA.

The Commission’s two members from opposition parties, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of the PML-N and Raja Pervez Ashraf of the PPP were not present at the meeting at which the Commission took up the matter out of agenda and decided to recommend to the government to suspend the mayor in connection with the intercity bus terminals’ (five bus stations in various parts of the city) contract worth Rs42 million, which the MCI had awarded last year.

The LGC decided to hold a proper inquiry into the matter besides recommending to the government to suspend the mayor for 90 days.

While talking to the reporters outside the Court’s premises Sheikh Ansar Aziz said after the hearing that “A case was filed against me with a mala fide intent,” adding that I was suspended on a weekend and the authorities didn’t even listen to what I had to say.” He claimed that no evidence was presented against him in the court.

“No one could prove anything as there is nothing in this case; we have already received three installments from the contractor and only one installment is pending which is due next month,” the Mayor further added.

To responding a question that why the MCI received post-dated cheques instead of advance payments, he explained the rules allowed him to accept this arrangement to avoid litigation.

He said previously the said contract was awarded against only Rs10m, saying “my fault is this; we awarded the contract against Rs420m.”

Sheikh Ansar Aziz claimed that LGC was supposed to resolve the MCI’s issues with other organisations like the CDA, but in almost all its meetings it pursed the one-point agenda to “malign me”, he said and added that a few months ago a similar so-called corruption reference had been taken up by the said commission, but he got a stay order the same court.

He termed it a politically-motivated action of the federal government.

Chief of the LGC Ali Nawaz Awan, however, firmly stood with the decision. He told Daily Times that said the Mayor was suspended in accordance with the Local Government Act, 2015 that, he claimed, was necessary to ensure a fair trial against him.