CM Punjab election: Court serves notices on Hamza, AGP, others

By Staff Reporter

LAHORE: The PTI’s petition seeking Hamza Shehbaz’s election as Punjab chief minister declared illegal has succeeded in having a court serve notices on Prime Minister’s son, the Attorney General of Pakistan, and others.
Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Shujaat Ali Khan on Tuesday heard the arguments of both sides and launched the notices.
The petition was filed by PTI’s Punjab Assembly Members Zainab Umair, Shamsa Ali, and Umul Banin Ali.
Tayyab Jan, Assistant Advocate General, objected to the petition and urged the court to quash it instantly.
He postulated that matters of Parliament should be resolved in the Parliament. “The petitioners in the case are members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. They have the right to consult the Assembly,” he said adding, “They can even bring a no-confidence motion against Hamza”.
To this, Advocate Azhar Siddique, the petitioners’ counsel, debated that after the Supreme Court’s analysis of Article 63-A of the Constitution, which deals with defection by parliamentarians, the position of dissident PTI MPAs had become clear.
“Hence, after subtracting the votes of the defecting lawmakers, Hamza no longer holds the majority to remain as the chief minister of the province,” Siddique said.
The court, subsequently, issued notices to Hamza, the AGP, Advocate General of Punjab and the provincial secretary and summoned written responses from them by June 20.
PTI’s petition that was heard on Tuesday was filed by MPA Zainab Umair, MPA Shamsa Ali and MPA Umul Banin Ali.
The Punjab CM election was held on April 16 under the supervision of Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari. Hamza was declared as the new chief executive “without lawful authority” and his election was in negation of the Constitution.
The votes of 25 dissident PTI lawmakers were also counted in the final tally. The then-governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema had refused to accept the election results. Hamza was administered oath due to “judicial overreach”, the petition contended.
According to the petition, Hamza’s election was in violation of the Constitution and the Rules of Business of the Punjab Assembly. Hamza had approached the LHC for holding the election, adding that he treated it as an urgent matter because he had the support of 25 dissident PTI MPAs, which was a violation of Article 63 of the Constitution.
An analysis of the Supreme Court’s interpretation would lead to the conclusion that the chief minister’s election was unlawful, the PTI petition argued.
“On this ground alone and keeping in view the scope and intent behind Article 63-A of the Constitution, the election held on April 16, 2022 [should] be declared as being without lawful authority and consequently be struck down.”
The petition requested the LHC to declare Hamza’s election void ab initio (illegal) “in the interest of justice and fair play”.
It also requested the court to declare the office of the chief minister as lying vacant and stop Hamza from working and portraying himself as the chief executive.