MCI administrator’s notification awaited

Islamabad : The interior ministry hasn't notified the administrator of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad for two months.

On May 27, 2022, the ministry issued a notification declaring that with the approval of the federal government, Islamabad deputy commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon (BPS-19) has been made the MCI administrator in addition to his own duties and responsibilities, in terms of Section 29(3) of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015, for a period of six months or till the elected local government assumed office, whichever was earlier.

That six months period has passed one and a half months ago, while the local government is also not in place.

However, the interior ministry has yet to appoint a new MCI administrator, so DC Irfan Nawaz Memon continues to hold the key office, an act that many find against the law. According to them, the DC requires the ministry's formal permission to manage the affairs of the municipal body, including for postings and transfers, and until that happens, his actions as the MCI administrator could be challenged in a court of law.

Established under the ICT Local Government Act, 2015, the MCI is to be headed by the capital city's mayor. Neither commissioner Captain (r) Muhammad Usman nor DC Memon responded to the calls of The News.

However, section officer of the interior ministry Amanat Ali Qasuri insisted that notification for the extension of the deputy commissioner's term as the MCI administrator would be issued in a day or two. He also claimed that the DC's all actions as the municipal corporation's top boss after the expiry of the six-month notification were lawful.