LHC CJ to hear Hamza Shehbaz plea over oath-taking issue tomorrow

Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti will hear a petition filed by newly-elected Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz over his oath-taking issue on April 26 (Tuesday).

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Hamza Shehbaz impleaded the prime minister through his principal secretary and president and chairman of the Senate through their secretaries in the petition.

Hamza Shehbaz submitted that the LHC had expressed expectation that the President of Pakistan would appoint another person to administer the oath of the chief minister’s office to him while forwarding its orders to the office of the president for the purpose.

However, the court orders have not been implemented, he submitted while pleading with the court to issue directions for implementation of its orders.

Earlier, hearing a petition of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz for the return of her passport to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah, a Lahore High Court division bench on Monday directed the interior ministry to present the rules of the exit control list (ECL).

Advocate Ahsan Bhoon appeared on behalf of Ms Nawaz and argued before the bench that the petitioner wanted to perform Umrah in the last days of holy month of Ramadan.

A special prosecutor for the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), present in the court, told the bench that the name of the petitioner was placed on the ECL following her bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

He said a main petition of the petitioner against the ECL was still pending since 2021.

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The bench directed an assistant attorney general to submit a reply on behalf of the interior ministry and also furnish the rules for placing someone on the ECL. The bench also directed the NAB prosecutor to submit a written reply to the petition.

Ms Nawaz had surrendered her passport before the court when allowed post-arrest bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on Nov 4, 2019. However, the bench had ordered her to surrender passport to prove bona fide as the NAB feared she could flee the country.