The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has issued notices to the parties on the writ filed against the initiative of obtaining the birth, marriage, and death certificates of the Local Government Department after one year through the court and has issued orders to file a reply within 14 days.
The bench consisting of Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Arshad Ali started hearing the writ of Muhammad Faheem on Monday.
His lawyer Shah Faisal Ilyas told the court that in 2013 the Local Government Act was passed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), in which it is clear that birth, marriage, and death certificates will be issued by the Municipal Department and the record will be kept with them.
Recently, the Local Government Department has amended the Act to state that the said certificates will be obtained within 90 days, and after the expiry of this period, it will be necessary to approach the court and get a court order for the said certificates.
He said that this process of the public facility has been made very complicated which will affect millions of citizens while it is also against the Local Government Act.
He also said that with this initiative, apart from losing the health facility card, the citizens will also face difficulties in getting admission for children and inheritance.
Secretary local government, NADRA, and other relevant authorities have been made parties in the writ, who have been issued notices and asked to respond.
Harassment case
Separately, the PHC has given more time to the opposing side to file their reply in the case of harassment of a female student in Islamia College Peshawar.
The court has given them a last chance and ordered them to file their reply by April 6.
A bench comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Syed Arshad Ali of the high court heard the petition of the victim student.
During the hearing, the lawyer of the professor named in the harassment case requested the court to give them more time to submit the answer.
He told the court that another case is also connected with this case.
The petitioner, who was a lawyer in this case, has now become a government lawyer, he added.
Meanwhile, Sangin Khan, the petitioner’s wife’s lawyer, told the court that the petitioner’s lawyer had done that case in the public interest and their case is that of the victim student.
After the incident of harassment, the victim student is not going to the university which is ruining her time because the professor who was allegedly named in the harassment case is now the chairman of the department, the lawyer added.
He requested to hear the case soon.
The court adjourned the hearing till April 6, giving a deadline to submit the reply in the harassment case.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2023.
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