LAHORE, jan 11 (FD): The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday resumed hearing on a petition filed by Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi against Governor Balighur Rehman’s orders to de-notify him as CM.
A larger bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh is hearing the arguments from the petitioner’s lawyer and the counsel of the governor.
At the onset of the hearing, Justice Sheikh asked if the matter was still undecided. To which, Elahi’s counsel Barrister Ali Zafar said all issues would be resolved in court.
The governor’s lawyer argued that sufficient time was given for the trust vote, adding that the court also provided the opportunity.
Justice Sheikh remarked the governor had authority to ask the chief minister to get the vote of confidence. How much time is needed to get the trust vote, he questioned Mr Zafar. He said the governor had offered to withdraw the notification if the chief minister takes the vote of confidence. The judge also offered to fix a date for the trust vote in the provincial assembly.
However, Barrister Ali Zafar rejected the Governor’s offer, saying he wanted to submit his arguments in the case before considering the offer.
Justice Asim Hafeez remarked that the chief minister had an opportunity to secure the trust vote between the gap court hearings in the case.
On Dec 23, the high court suspended Governor Balighur Rehman’s notification of denotifying Elahi as the provincial chief executive. It issued the order after the chief minister submitted an undertaking that he would not dissolve Punjab assembly until he obtained a vote of confidence from the house.
Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman s lawyer argued that the governor would take his notification regarding removal of Mr Elahi from holding the CM office back provided that the court bound the CM not to dissolve the assembly. Justice Asim Hafeez remarked that the Article 130 of the Constitution of Pakistan barred the court from halting the CM to dissolve the assembly after the court conceded to the governor s offer. “You must submit your undertaking in writing as we have to find a common ground for both parties”, he added.
Later, The court had issued notices to the governor, the Attorney General, and others, and adjourned the hearing till Jan 11.
Governor Rehman denotified Chief Minister Parvez Elahi last month, stating that it was believed that the chief minister did not have the confidence of the majority of the members of the assembly. The notification further stated that the Punjab cabinet had been dissolved. Parvez Elahi would continue to hold office until the election of the new leader of the House, it said.
“Consequent to the facts that Ch Pervaiz Elahi, Chief Minister Punjab refrained from obtaining vote of confidence at 1600 hrs yesterday, in line with an Order under Article 130(7) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan issued under my hand on 19t December 2022, in line with Rule 22(7) of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997, and that he still has not done so even after the lapse of another twenty four hours, I am satisfied that he does not command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Punjab Assembly, and therefore ceases to hold his office with immediate effect,” reads the notification.
