REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Chapter – XXIX) Municipal Offences and their Cognizance #
172. Offences, punishments and their cognizance.– #
(1) The offences specified in Eight and Ninth Schedules shall be liable to punishment by way of imprisonment, fine, seizure, forfeiture, confiscation and impounding and such other penalties as are provided in this Act.
(2) If a person commits an offence specified in –
(a) Part-I of Eight Schedule, such person shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine which may extend to five hundred thousand rupees or with both and where an accused was directed by the Inspector for immediate discontinuance of the offence, the Court may impose a further fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees for every day for the period the accused has persisted in the offence from the date of its commission;
(b) Part-II of Eight Schedule, such person shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one hundred thousand rupees or with both and where an accused was directed by the Inspector for immediate discontinuance of the offence, the Court may impose a further fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees for every day for the period the accused has persisted in the offence from the date of its commission
(c) Part-III of Eight Schedule, such person shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months or fine which may extend to twenty five thousand rupees or with both and where an accused was directed by the Inspector for immediate discontinuance of the offence, the Court may impose a further fine which may extend to five hundred rupees for every day for the period the accused persisted in the offence from the date of its commission; and
(d) Ninth Schedule, such person shall, in the first instance, be liable to fine by issuing a ticket specified in Tenth Schedule and where an accused repeats the offence within a period of three months for which the accused was subjected to fine, he shall be liable to the same punishment as provided in clause (c).
(3) If an offence of illegal dumping of solid waste and refuse under Part-II of the Eight Schedule is committed by a person for the first time, he shall be administered a warning; and, in case he repeats the offence within one year from earlier commission, he shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years but which shall not be less than seven days, and with fine which may extend to one hundred thousand rupees but which shall not be less than twenty thousand rupees; and, where an accused was directed in writing by the Inspector for immediate discontinuance of the offence, the Court may impose a further fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees for every day for the period the accused has persisted in the offence from the date of its commission.
(4) The offences specified in clauses (a) and (b) of subsection (2) shall be cognizable and information in this regard shall be forwarded to the officer in-charge of a police station by the Inspector after prior approval of the Chief Officer for registration of a case against the accused in accordance with the provisions of section 154 of the Code.
(5) A Court shall take cognizance of the offences specified in clause (c) of subsection (2) on a complaint made in writing by the Inspector after prior approval of the Chief Officer in accordance with the provisions of section 200 of the Code.
(6) The offences specified in Part-III of Eight Schedule and Ninth Schedule shall be tried in a summary manner in accordance with the provisions of section 260 to 265 of the Code but the limit of punishment mentioned in subsection (2) of section 262 of the Code shall not be applicable.
(7) The fines imposed by a Court for an offence specified in Ninth Schedule shall on collection be deposited in the Public Account of the local government.
(8) The Secretary may, by notification in the official Gazette, entrust to a local government the enforcement of any other law.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 132 | 277,278 | 172 | 170 | 172 |
Comments
It is function of a Metropolitan Corporation and District Council under sections 30, 31 and 32 of the Act to enforce all municipal laws, rules and bye-laws governing its functioning; approve and collect taxes, fees, rates, rents, tolls, charges, fines and penalties; authorize an officer or officers to issue notice to a person committing any municipal offence and initiate legal proceedings for continuance of commission of such offence or for failure to comply with the directions contained in such notice; and prosecute, sue and follow up criminal, civil and recovery proceedings against violators of municipal laws in the courts of competent jurisdiction. Cognizable offence is an offence in which a police officer, may, in accordance with the second Schedule or under any law for the time being in force, arrest without warrant (Section 4(f) of Code of Criminal Procedure), while the non-cognizable is an offence in which a police officer, may not arrest with our warrant. Offences mentioned in Part-I of Eighth Schedule are punishable with imprisonment for a term extendable to seven years or fine upto five hundred thousand rupees or with both imprisonment and fine. Further fine may be imposed by the Court upto fifty thousand for every day of persistent offence from the date of commission after notice of discontinuation of offence is issued by the Inspector to the accused. Offences mentioned in Part-II of Eighth Schedule are punishable with imprisonment for a term extendable to three years or fine upto one hundred thousand rupees or with both imprisonment and fine. Further fine may be imposed by the Court upto ten thousand for every day of persistent offence from the date of commission after notice of discontinuation of offence is issued by the Inspector to the accused. Offences mentioned in Part-III of Eight Schedule, punishable with imprisonment for the term extendable to six months or fine upto twenty five thousand or with both. Further fine may be imposed by the Court upto five hundred for every day of persistent offence from the date of commission after notice of discontinuation of offence is issued by the Inspector to the accused. Offences mentioned in Ninth Schedule, such person shall, in the first instance, be liable to fine by issuing a ticket specified in Tenth Schedule and where an accused repeats the offence within a period of three months for which the accused was subjected to fine, he shall be liable to punishable with imprisonment for the term extendable to six months or fine upto twenty five thousand or with both. Further fine may be imposed by the Court upto five hundred for every day of persistent offence from the date of commission after notice of discontinuation of offence is issued by the Inspector to the accused. All the above mentioned offences are cognizable and subject to summary trial under sections 260 to 265 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and punishment mentioned in subsection (2) of section 262 of the Code is not applicable.
| RELEVANT NOTIFICATION | |
| 1. | Notification No. AO.Dev.(LG)9-2/2016 WMCs(P-V) dated 25.10.2017 regarding “Imposition of Restriction Under Section 144 CPC, 1898 Against Burning Solid Waste and Hazardous Materials”. |
| RELEVANT INSTRUCTIONS / ADVICE | |
| 1. | Letter No. SOTAX (LG) 2-21/2019, Govt. of the Punjab, LG&CD Department dated 17.11.2021 regarding “Guidelines / Instructions Regarding Issues Relating to Collection of Advertisement Tax Amongst the Contractors of Local Governments in the Punjab and Vendors of National and Multinational Companies”. |
| 2. | Letter No. SOTAX (LG) 2-25/2-p 019, Govt. of the Punjab, LG&CD Department dated 17.10.2019 regarding “(i) c; and (ii) Inquiry into Extortion of Money by Secretary RTA, Traffic Police and various Groups at Bus Stands/Goods Adda in D.G Khan Division (Special Branch)”. |
| 3. | Letter No. SOTAX (LG) 5-81/2014, Govt. of the Punjab, LG&CD Department dated 13.03.2019 regarding “Unauthorized Charging of Parking / Adda Fee”. |
173. Appointment and control of Inspectors.– (1) The Head of the local government shall, with the approval of the local government, authorize the officials of the local government as Inspectors for the enforcement of the offences specified in the Schedules.
(2) The prescribed officer shall be the controlling authority and administrative Head of an Inspector and the Inspector shall report to the officer for the enforcement of provisions of this Chapter.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 133 | 283 | 173 | 171 | 173 |
Comments
Only the servants of the local governments may be authorized to be appointed as Inspectors for the enforcement of the offences. The officer prescribed by the Government shall be the controlling authority and administrative Head of an Inspector.
174. Imposition of fine through ticketing.– #
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Chapter, where any person, in the opinion of an Inspector, is contravening any provision of the law relating to the offences specified in Ninth Schedule, the Inspector shall charge the accused by issuing a ticket in the form for payment of fine specified in Tenth Schedule, if such offence has been committed for the first time by the accused within three months.
(2) The ticket referred to in subsection (1) shall be issued in quadruplicate by delivering three copies to the accused after obtaining his signatures or thumb impression on the fourth copy to be retained by the Inspector for record.
(3) The fine may be deposited in the bank account of the local government within ten days from the date of imposition of fine for credit in the Public Account of the local government.
(4) The person to whom a ticket has been issued under this section may either contest the imposition of fine in the Court within ten days from the date of the issuance of the ticket or deposit the fine within that period and provide a copy of payment receipt to the office of the local government.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 134 | – | 174 | 172 | 174 |
175. Court proceedings for default in deposit of fine.–
(1) An official / servant of the local government authorized by the Head of local government shall on weekly basis provide a scroll of all unpaid tickets to the Court.
(2) The Court receiving the scroll shall issue summons to the accused forthwith stating the date of hearing for summary trial in accordance with the provisions of section 260 to 265 of the Code but the limit of punishment mentioned in subsection (2) of section 262 of the Code shall not be applicable.
(3) Where on the first date of hearing, the accused appears before the Court and produces the proof of deposit of fine, or unconditionally admitting his failure, deposits the fine forthwith along with the penalty which shall not be less than ten percent and not more than twenty five percent of the amount of fine determined by the Court in accordance with the procedure provided in subsection (2) of section 388 of the Code further proceedings against the accused may be dropped and no conviction shall be recorded against him.
(4) Upon failure of the accused to appear before the Court in response to the summons issued by it, the Court shall forthwith issue warrants for arrest of the accused and upon issuance of such warrants the accused shall be liable to punishment under clause (c) of subsection (2) of section 172.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 135 | – | 175 | 173 | 175 |
176. Compounding of offences.– Subject to this Act, a local government shall constitute a committee consisting of the Head of local government as its Convener, an officer of the local government and a Councillor of the local government as its members for compounding the offences.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 136 | – | 176 | 174 | 176 |
177. Municipal Wardens.–
(1) A local government, other than a Union Council, may establish and maintain Municipal Wardens in the prescribed manner.
(2) The Government may, notwithstanding anything contained in the Police Order, 2002(C.E. Order No.22 of 2002), or in any other law, specify the duties which such force may be required to perform.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 137 | – | 177 | 175 | 177 |
178. General powers of Inspectors.– #
(1) In case of any serious threat to the public health, safety or welfare or danger to life and property, or where violation of any rule or bye-law is being committed, the Inspector may, in his area of jurisdiction, in addition to imposition of fine or initiating prosecution under this Act –
(a) suspend any work;
(b) seize the goods;
(c) seal the premises;
(d) demolish or remove the work; or
(e) issue directions for taking corrective measures within the specified time.
(2) An Inspector shall not enter any dwelling unit without permission of the occupier or the Court.
(3) An Inspector authorized under section 173 may, in relation to the offences specified in Eight Schedule –
(a) issue notices in writing on behalf of the local government;
(b) initiate legal proceedings in the court;
(c) assist in defending legal proceeding initiated against the local government.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| 138 | 284 | 178 | 176 | 178 |
Comments
The Hon’ble Lahore High Court in the judgment reported as 2013 CLC 1580 in a case titled “Syed Mustafa Hussain v. District Coordination Officer, Multan and 3 others”, while dealing with the matter of sealing of property held as under:
“5. Admittedly, the petitioner is owner of the property in question and the building plan was duly sanctioned vide Letter No.413 dated 22-11-1993. Thereafter revised building plan was also approved on 14-6-1999 for Bar-B-Q. Subsequently the respondents issued various notices to the effect that the petitioner should get the site in dispute commercialized after payment of commercialization fee. The petitioner apprehending that the respondents were not withdrawing notice hereinabove mentioned, instituted a civil suit for declaration and permanent injunction for restraining the respondents from interfering into the building and business being run. An injunctive order was issued by the trial Court which still holds the field. I am afraid that the stand taken by the respondents is not in accordance with law. Section 146-D of The Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001 and clause 8.2.2(b) of the Building Zoning Bye Laws 2001 read with section 141(1) of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001 does not empower the Inspector (Commercialization) to seal the premises due to non-payment of commercialization fee. Moreover clause 8.2.2(b) of the Building Zoning Bye-Laws, 2001 binds the competent authority that only after completion of codal formalities, may seal building on the ground “if the building is in the process of illegal construction or has been illegally constructed”. Be that as it may, the property in question was approved under the law prevalent in the year 1993 thereafter its revised plan was also sanctioned on 14-6-1999 in accordance with law. Thus clause 8.2.2(b) ibid is not applicable. Statutes which create new liabilities in connection with the past transaction should not be given a retrospective operation. Reliance is placed on Abdul Karim v. State (PLD 1959 W.P. Lahore 883). Furthermore when the lis is sub judice before the trial court and injunctive order is still operative, therefore, the impugned act of sealing of the premises of the petitioner by the respondents is mala fide, illegal and without lawful authority. Reliance is placed on Collector of Customs, Custom House, Lahore and 3 others v. Messrs S.M. Ahmad & Company (Pvt.) Limited Islamabad (1999 SCMR 138) and Ghulam Abbas Niazi v. Federation of Pakistan and others (PLD 2009 SC 866).”
The Hon’ble Lahore in a judgment reported as 2015 MLD 1745 in a case tiled “Muhammad Tufail v. Administrator, TMA, Murree and 2 others”, disposed of the matter of sealing of petitioner’s Guest House on account of insanitation of seepage and disposal of water from the sewerage line of the same without notice in the following terms:
“10. Both the learned Legal Advisor as also the Town Officer have failed to demonstrate as to in what manner service of the petitioner with regard to the notices issued was effected. The officer from the Municipal Authority has verbally answered that the notices were sent through Inspector of Town Municipal Administration. From nowhere it is borne out as to which Inspector of TMA, Murree was assigned such duty to effect the service upon the petitioner on the notices, stated to have been issued by TMA. Also there is no indication from the record produced by the respondents today as to whether such notices were duly served upon the petitioner or any other person acting on his behalf; receipt of such notices by the petitioner is not, at all, proved; thus, no validity can be attached to such notices. The action of sealing of the premises of Valley View Guest House is, thus, established to have been taken without first issuance of notices to the petitioner.
11. Even otherwise, as per the showing of the respondents, the petitioner was proceeded against in view of the offences mentioned at Serial Nos.10 and 22 of Eighth Schedule. Maximum punishment for both such offences is imposition of fine amounting to Rs.1000 and Rs.500, respectively. The sealing of the premises is nowhere provided either by way of punishment or by way of any remedial step in consequence of the alleged nuisance constituted allegedly by the owner or occupier of a building.”
In another judgment of the Hon’ble Lahore High Court reported as 2016 CLD 1267 in a case titled “Colony Sugar Mills ltd v. D.G Khan Environment Protect Agency and others” it was held as under:
“5. The act of sealing the distillery plant was done after giving notice to the Petitioner and after giving it an opportunity to rectify the issue. The original record produced before the Court shows that the Petitioner participated in the meetings and undertook that it will not throw the polluted water into the drainage and shall ensure its safe disposal. Therefore the record shows that the Petitioner had fair warning of the situation at hand. As to the act of sealing the distillery plant by the Respondent No.3, the power to seal is under Section 138 of the Act of 2013 which is to be exercised in cases of threat to public health, safety or welfare of the public. This power is an independent power and the pendency of the appeal or complaint against the Petitioner cannot prevent the Respondents from taking notice of a serious threat to public health and safety. Furthermore, it is noted that remedy of appeal is available under Section 143 of the Act of 2013.”
179. Appointment of Municipal Magistrates.–The Government may, in consultation with the High Court, appoint one or more Special Judicial Magistrates under section 14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898), to be called Municipal Magistrates, for cognizance of offences under this Act.
| NOTES: | ||||
| PARI MATERIA PROVISIONS | ||||
| PLGA 2013 | PLGA 2019 | PLGO 2021 | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XIII of 2022) | PLGA 2022 (Act No. XXXIII of 2022) |
| s. | s. | s. | s. | s. |
| – | 285 | 179 | 177 | 179 |
