This judgment shall dispose of Writ Petitions Nos.11969/92, 2492/93, 5002/93, 5204/93, 5205/93, 5206/93, 5207/93, 5208/93, 5209/93, 5210/93, 5211/93, 5212/93, 5213/93, 5214/93, 5215/93, 5216/93, 5217/93, 5218/93 and 5219/93 in which common questions arise for determination.
2. The petitioners in all these petitions except W.P. No.5002/93 are either residents of/or are carrying on business within the local limits of Union Council Sharaqpur Khurd, District Sheikhupura. By a notification dated 15th September, 1991 purportedly issued under section 6(2)(d) of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 1979, the Government of Punjab declared the areas forming Union Council, Shariqpur Khurd to be urban areas and the Union Council was upgraded as Town Committee. That notification was impugned in several Constitutional petitions including W.Ps.
Nos.10030/92 and 10049/92 in this Court.
3. During the course of hearing of those petitions, Punjab Gazette dated 4-11-1992 containing two notifications dated 25-10-1992 superseding the earlier notification dated 16-9-1991 was produced.
The learned counsel for the petitioners in those petitions thereupon withdrew their challenge to the notification dated 15-9-1991 and those Constitutional petitions proceeded on certain other questions and were ultimately dismissed by this Court.
4. In the present petitions, validity of the two notifications issued on 25-10-1992 published in the Punjab Gazette on 4-11-1992 has been questioned primarily on the ground that these notifications, which purport to operate retrospectively with effect from 15th September, 1991, could not have been given retrospective effect in the absence of any provision in the statute under which these notifications have been issued.
5. This contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is unexceptionable and could not be effectively controverted by the learned counsel for the respondents in view of the settled law.
However, the position taken by the respondents i.e. the Provincial Government and Town Committee is strangely enough was that these two notifications have never been issued by the Provincial Government and have been unauthorisedly published in the Punjab Gazette. The Town Committee has also filed W.P. No.5002/93 praying that these two notifications be declared to be without lawful authority and of no legal effect.
6. The stand taken by the respondents appears to be without any basis. As it was disputed that the notifications were published in the official Gazette, this Court summoned the Superintendent, Government Printing Press, Punjab, Lahore who appeared on 6-4-1993 and stated that the notifications in question have been duly published. That being so, no credence can be given to the plea raised by the respondents.
7.It is also to be noticed that in the written statement filed by the respondents, it was not disputed that the two notifications in questions had been issued by the Government but it was pleaded that the said notifications were subsequently withdrawn. However, nothing has been brought on the record to show that the Government had at any stage issued any other notification withdrawing the notifications dated 25th October, 1992 which were published in the Punjab Gazette on 4-11-1992.
8. Learned counsel for the respondents has also relied upon another notification dated 11-11-1992 to contend that the action of the respondents in upgrading Union Council as Town Committee was unexceptionable. This notification purports to amend the earlier notification dated 15-9-1991. As already observed, the notification dated 1.5-9-1991 was superseded by the notifications dated 25th October, 1992 and, therefore, the question of the amendment of this notification on 11-11-1992 did not arise.
9.As regards the notification dated 15-9-1991, the same on the face of it is not in accordance with law and has no validity. Section 6(1)(d) of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance authorises the Government to create a Town A Committee for a Town. Town has been defined in section 3(xlvii) as an area which has been declared to be town under the Ordinance. It follows, therefore, that declaration by the Government is a prerequisite for creation of a Town. There is, however, no such declaration either in the notification dated 15-9-1991 or any other document prior to 15-9-1991.
Consequently as the area in question was not Town, no Town Committee could be set up for it.
10,The conclusion from the above discussion is that notification dated 15-9-1991 stood superseded by the notifications dated 25th October; 1992 and ceased to have any existence and could not, therefore, have been amended on 11th November, 1992. The two subsequent notifications dated 25- 10-1992 are void to the extent of their retrospectivity and shall be deemed to have taken 18 effect on 4-11-1992 when the two notifications were published in the official Gazette.
These petitions are disposed of in the above terms with no order as t costs.