Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday said re-polling for the slot of Punjab chief minister would be held in the Punjab Assembly on July 22 and till then Hamza Shahbaz would remain the CM.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial said a detailed verdict in this regard would be issued later.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had summoned Hamza Shehbaz and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi via video link on the Punjab chief minister election case at SC Registry in Lahore.

During the hearing, the top judge queried if he could ask something from Hamza Shahbaz. He asked if Hamza had an intention of rigging the poll. Upon which, peals of laughter rang out throughout the court.

Hamza stepped up onto the rostrum and said he had no such intention.

Justice Aijaz ul Ahsan said there was a code of conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for conducting election.

The chief justice ordered to implement the ECP’s code of conduct. He said they were not deciding a family dispute. Both the sides should show some grace and let the decision take place in the house, Justice Aijaz said.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked Hamza if he had any intention to harass members of the house. The Punjab CM replied that he would not harass anybody. “I am a political worker and have spent time in jail. I will ensure transparent election,” he said. The CJ said he would not use the word of caretaker chief minister for Hamza. “We will use such wordings which would be acceptable for all,” he said.

Justice Aijaz said the court would issue a comprehensive verdict and would not go into minor details.

The five-judge bench was hearing appeals of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi against different single-bench decisions regarding the election and oath-taking of CM Shehbaz.

Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan heads the bench with Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh as its members.

The courtroom was packed to its capacity with lawyers and leaders of the opposition parties including former law minister Raja Basharat and former provincial minister Sibtain Khan, also a petitioner in the case.

Advocate General of Punjab Shahzad Shaukat also appeared before the bench.

Justice Shahid Jamil observed that the presidential reference about the interpretation of article 63-A of the Constitution was still pending when the election of the chief minister was held.
The judge also asked the counsel of Hamza to seek a review of the Supreme Court’s opinion if had an objection.

Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, on behalf of the appellants, argued that the opinion of the Supreme Court would apply retrospectively to the election of the chief minister held on April 16.

Justice Khan observed that now whole country knew the bench’s view on the implementation of the SC opinion on Article 63-A.
Mr Zafar said the chief minister lost the majority as the apex court ruled that the votes of the defectors were not to be counted. He pointed out that 25 MPAs had defected in the election of the chief minister.

Advocate Ahmad Awais, on behalf of President Dr Arif Alvi, argued that the order issued to the national assembly speaker for oath taking of the chief minister was illegal.

He requested the bench to set aside adverse remarks in the order of the single bench against the president and then governor of Punjab. He said the president and the governor were condemned unheard.
Justice Sethi also expressed his concern over the remarks against the president and the governor without hearing their view.