Petition filed against laws of six provinces

Kathmandu, August 19

Advocate Lokendra Bahadur Oli filed a case against six of the seven provinces for enacting laws that allow the local governments to provide pay and perks to office bearers and members of the local levels.

He has named the governments of Province 2, Province 3, Gandaki Province, Province 5, Karnali Province and Sudur Paschim Province as defendants. The petitioner has also named the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law of those provinces as defendants.

The petitioner said the provincial governments had no power to frame laws that allow elected officials of the local governments to draw monthly salary/remuneration, but they exceeded their brief by enacting laws allowing the office bearers and members of local levels for the same.

Oli told THT that he did not include Province 1 among the defendants as the province had made its law to allow office bearers and members of local levels to draw only perks and not salary.

The petitioner said the constitution allowed members of the federal Parliament, speaker, deputy speaker, members of provincial assemblies, speaker and deputy speakers of provincial assemblies to draw pay and perks, but unlike these provisions, the constitution provides rights for office bearers of local levels to receive only perks and not salary.

The petitioner argued that the provincial governments wrongly interpreted the provisions of Article 227 of the constitution and made laws to provide salary to office bearers of local levels. The petitioner said the six provinces had violated the constitutional provision.