By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: Lahore High Court on Friday reinstated the deposed chief minister and his cabinet ‘conditionally’ in Punjab on the assurance that the provincial assembly would not be dissolved as planned by the ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Lahore High Court’s larger bench, headed by Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh, held the hearing on Elahi’s petition challenging Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman’s order to de-notify him as the chief executive of the province and his cabinet on “shabby grounds”.
The five-judge bench comprised Justice Shaikh, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, Justice Asim Hafeez, and Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir.
The largest province of the country plunged into a constitutional crisis after governor Rehman in the early hours of Friday denotified Elahi as chief minister for “not complying with his order to obtain the vote of confidence”.
“If I and my cabinet are reinstated, then I will not send the assembly dissolution summary to the governor till the next hearing,” read an undertaking submitted by Elahi’s counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar.
Later, Zafar told the media that he submitted an undertaking on behalf of Elahi that he wouldn’t dissolve the assembly till the next hearing. “The next court hearing scheduled for January 11 will now review the legality of the governor’s order.”
Elahi filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging the order issued by Governor Rehman, saying the move was “unconstitutional, unlawful, and of no legal effect”.
Political observers said the governor, who belongs to the ruling coalition of the Pakistan Democratic Movement had taken the step to stop Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Khan from dissolving the Punjab Assembly on December 23.
Khan, last week, announced that he would seek to dissolve two provincial governments run by his party and coalition partners.
Khan’s PTI has governments in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as well as in Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. It has lawmakers in the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies also. The party lawmakers had already resigned from the National Assembly but the resignations of most of the lawmakers were not accepted.
Ousted from the office of prime minister via a parliamentary vote in April, Khan has, since, refused to recognize the government of Prime Minister Sharif and accuses it of conspiring with the military establishment and the US for his removal.
The country is facing a political crisis with Khan demanding that the government announces early votes and Prime Minister Sharif rejecting his plea for snap polls.
Speaking to the media outside the courtroom, Elahi’s son, Moonis Elahi, said his party PML-Q respected the judiciary. “We will seek a vote of confidence and will dissolve the assembly the same day,” he said.
The reinstated chief minister Elahi was also adamant the decision to dissolve the assembly was final.
“PTI chief Imran Khan’s decision in this regard will be fully implemented. The imported government wants to run away from elections. We will present the imported government in the people’s court who make the final decision,” he tweeted.
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