Anwar Mansoor Khan, a counsel for the Sindh government contended before the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the legislature, under the constitutional scheme, had no limitations on its lawmaking powers. Khan said under such powers, the Sindh Assembly applied its wisdom and unanimously adopted the Sindh Peoples Local Government Act 2012. He was arguing before a three-member bench – headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and including Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed – in response to a constitutional plea moved by Barrister Zameer Hussain Ghumro against the act as based upon discrimination and fundamental rights of the residents of province. The counsel said there was not a single dissenting note over the recently adopted legislation in the House. “By mere citing of certain constitutional provisions, the wisdom of the assembly cannot be termed unconstitutional,” Khan added. He also strongly objected to the use of the term ‘malafide’ by the petitioner, saying it was based upon mere apprehensions. To a query, he said the provincial executive had not abdicated its authority through this act but it had devolved certain powers to a tier of the government, which was well defined in the relevant provisions of the Local Government Act.
