Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti will deliver his decision on chief minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz’s petition today at 10:00 a.m., seeking a directive to the Senate chairman to administer the oath to him.

On April 16, Hamza was elected Chief Minister of Punjab. However, he has yet to be sworn in because his oath-taking was postponed twice despite the LHC’s directives to not delay the matter any further.

On Tuesday, the LHC reserved its decision on Hamza’s petition, the second time the PML-N has approached the high court for a resolution.

During the hearing, Punjab Advocate-General Ahmad Owais maintained that Punjab Governor Omer Sarfaraz Cheema had sent a six-page letter to President Arif Alvi, expressing serious concern about the chief minister’s election and seeking his advice. He stated that the president had sent the governor’s recommendations to the prime minister.

The AGP also raised concerns about the petition’s viability, claiming that the president’s argument had not been heard.

The argument infuriated LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti, who questioned what law had given the governor the authority to investigate the validity of the chief minister’s election.

The judge stated that the prime minister’s advice was not required in this case because the election was held in accordance with a judicial order.

The AGP maintained that the election issue needed to be handled with restraint because the election was held amid the commotion. However, the chief justice noted that the court had exercised sufficient restraint, questioning what action had been taken on the order to appoint another representative to administer the oath to the CM-elect.

The AGP claimed that President Alvi received the court order three days ago. “The President will look into the matter right away,” he added.

The chief justice noted that the province had been without a chief executive for several days while expressing disappointment with the president’s failure to act on the high court’s order.

“Instead of carrying out the judicial order, the president was giving explanations.” “The court had informed the president that he was the head of state, but he could be naive.” “The court had also made him understand the matter through its order, but to no avail,” Justice Bhatti remarked.

Meanwhile, a federal law officer informed the court that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had sent the advice to the president, requesting that the court’s order be followed in letter and spirit.

On behalf of Hamza Shehbaz, advocate Ashtar Ausaf argued that the court orders were not being followed. He pleaded with the court to issue directions for the execution of its orders.

Through the petition, Hamza Shehbaz expressed hope that the president would appoint someone else to administer the oath of the chief minister’s office to him while forwarding its orders to the president’s office for the purpose.