LHC reserves verdict on chief minister-elect Hamza’s petition

Lahore High Court Justice Ameer Bhatti on Tuesday reserved a verdict on the petition filed by chief minister-elect Hamza Shahbaz against delay in his oath-taking and remarked that the court gave full respect to the president but he did not seem to like it.

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On April 22, Chief justice Bhatti had issued an order saying, “It is expected from the President of Pakistan that he will resolve /decode the matter of nomination of any person in terms of article 104 of the constitution keeping in view the fact that people of the province are already suffering on account of the nonfunctional provincial government for 21 days. However, the same was not implemented and Hamza again approached the LHC.

As the hearing started, the Advocate General Punjab Ahmed Awais said that the Governor of Punjab sent a 6-page letter to the President of Pakistan, showing serious concern over the election of the chief minister and sought his advice, adding that the President has sent the recommendations of the Governor to the Prime Minister.

The AGP also raised objections on the maintainability of the petition of Hamza Shahbaz, saying the court had not heard the President who had been made party by Hamza Shahbaz. He said the Governor observed that the election of the CM was not fair.

Expressing anger, the Chief Justice said, “Tell me under what law this whole matter is going on and under what law the governor can inquire as to how the election took place, adding that the election of the CM was held on the order of the court.

The Advocate General Punjab said that there was a quarrel during the election, this issue needs to be looked at with restraint.

Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti said that the court has shown enough restraint, what happened to the order of the High Court, what has been happening with the constitution and law for the last 25 days, and how long the province can function without a Chief Minister.

The Advocate General Punjab said that the court order was received by the President three days ago, now he will look into the matter.

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The Chief Justice said that this means that the President was asleep before this court woke him up, the eye can open after 15 days or even before, there is no government in this province. What the president has done for this province, the province has been running without a Chief Minister for so many days, the President of Pakistan has written that there are still 15 days left under the Constitution.

The Chief Justice said that the court tried to give full respect to the President of Pakistan, but I think he did not like it. The matter is in court from April 1st to 22. The President of Pakistan has not done anything for so long. The court had ordered with great caution. In 4 days, the President could not understand what to do.

After the hearing, the Lahore High Court reserved its decision on the petition filed by Hamza Shahbaz regarding his swearing-in and announced the decision tomorrow.