LHC directed governor Punjab to take oath from CM elect Shahbaz Sharif by tomorrow
LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti in its judgement announced today declared delay in oath taking unconstitutional
LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti in its judgement announced today declared delay in oath taking unconstitutional. LHC also pointed out that Punjab province is without a government for 25 days.
Hamza Shahbaz filed petition in the LHC for the implementation of its earlier order for the oath taking. The Governor Punjab refused to take oath from CM elect Hamza Shahbaz on the ground that his election was not according to the law and rules. He send 6 page long letter to president Arif Alvi in which he expressed serious concerns about the election of CM Punjab.
It is worth mentioning here that the election of CM Punjab was held on April 16 on the order of Lahore High Court. Hamza Shahbaz was elected CM Punjab with 197 votes. He was supported by 26 PTI dissidents in the Punjab Assembly. The PTI lawmakers are demanding that the votes of PTI dissidents should not be counted.
Hamza was elected as Punjab's chief minister on April 16. However, he hasn't sworn in yet as his oath-taking was deferred twice despite the LHC's directives for not delaying the matter any further.
During the hearing, Punjab Advocate-General Ahmad Awais maintained that the Punjab Governor Omer Sarfaraz Cheema had sent a six-page letter to President Arif Alvi and expressed serious concern over the election of the chief minister, besides seeking his advice. He stated that the president had sent the recommendations of the governor to the prime minister.
The Chief Justice during the hearing yesterday asked the Advocate General Punjab and Additional Attorney General that under which law and constitutional provision both president and governor are questioning the legality of election of CM Punjab. The honourable CJ made it clear that the election was held on his order and deputy speaker acted as presiding officer on court's order.
The CJ LHC also observed that this court had enlightened the president as head of the state but he might be naïve.
The PTI and PML-Q are trying everything to delay the oath taking of CM elect Hamza Shahbaz after losing the election with clear margin. Both president and governor are acting on the advice of the PTI leadership. First they tried to delay the election and now they are delaying the oath taking. The LHC had been forced to intervene as both president and governor are hiding behind the constitutional indemnity.
Khalid Bhatti
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