Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) Monday fixed the petitions for June 20 against Hamza Shehbaz Sharif’s election as the chief executive of the province. Justice Shujaat Ali Khan heard the petitions filed by Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, MPAs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others. After hearing arguments of the petitioner’s counsel, the court ordered that the matter be placed before the LHC chief justice for appropriate orders. The court noted that the chief justice partly heard the matter earlier whereas there was no order for transfer of the cases to it. Later, the court withdrew its orders after the LHC officials concerned produced transfer orders and ordered the registrar office for fixing the matter on June 20. During the case’s hearing on May 30, LHC Chief Justice Bhatti stated that the Supreme Court’s short order stated that votes of dissident members would not be counted if voting was still going on. “If we apply for this order on past cases then it means that all decisions will be reversed,” CJ Bhatti had remarked. Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz submitted his 16-page reply to the court, in which he insisted that his election was conducted in accordance with the country’s rules and constitution. He held that the election for chief minister took place prior to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article 63-A and that the interpretation had no bearing on the election. He went on to say that the former governor’s investigation into the election was illegal and that the Punjab Assembly secretary, too, lacked jurisdiction to investigate the election. Hamza requested that the court dismiss the petitions against his election.