KARACHI: Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the administrator of Karachi, is stepping down after the high court of Sindh restricted the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) from collecting taxes through K-Electric, the city’s power utility.
The announcement came on the heels of the high court ruling on Monday that temporarily barred the local government body from collecting municipal taxes through electricity bills.
The Sindh government appointed Murtaza as Karachi’s administrator in August last year to look after the administrative and municipal affairs of the metropolis before the local bodies’ elections.
The decision triggered a strong reaction from the then-federal government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its allies, but a key minister, despite reservations on the appointment of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) man to the office, called it a legal right of the province, with Islamabad having no space under the law to challenge its move.
His appointment came with the notification issued by the Sindh local government department under Section 21(3) of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 which mentioned relieving Laiq Ahmed Memon, a BPS-20 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), from the position with immediate effect.
