LAHORE: A newly formed bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) is hearing hear Parvez Elahi’s petition against the denotification order of Governor Baligh Ur Rehman.
The petition was scheduled for hearing earlier today but a judge recused himself from the case after which the bench was dissolved.
The LHC CJ had formed a five-member bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh to hear the petition. However, when the hearing started, Justice Abid Aziz said that Justice Farooq Haider had represented the petitioner in many cases and he has requested to be excluded from the bench.
After this, the matter was again referred to the chief justice. Now, Justice Asim Hafeez has been included in the bench, replacing Justice Farooq Haider.
The bench headed by Justice Sheikh will include Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh and Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir. In the petition, Elahi has appealed to the court to declare the governor’s move denotifying him as chief minister “illegal”.
It informs the court that the Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan was asked to summon a session for vote of confidence. It added that the speaker did not summon the session as one was already underway.
“No action can be taken against any chief minister over speaker’s actions,” maintains the petition. Governor Rehman has been made respondent in the case via his principal secretary and chief secretary of the province.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Attaullah Tarar advised Elahi that rather than approaching the court he should have taken the vote of confidence.
“He (Elahi) has no other option but to take a vote of confidence. Even the court cannot finish the vote of confidence. This has to be done legally as well,” tweeted Tarar following the submission of the petition.
The PTI and PML-Q had already announced their intention to approach court over the governor’s move. Elahi, who has been denotified from his position as chief minister of Punjab by Governor Balighur Rehman, had rejected the notification and made up his mind to move the court.
“I reject the de-notification. I am the Chief Minister of Punjab and the cabinet will continue to function,” Chaudhry Parvez Elahi said while talking to the media in Friday’s early hours.
Meanwhile, PTI senior leader Fawad Chaudhry believes that the governor’s action holds “no legal status”. Taking to Twitter, Fawad said Parvez Elahi and the provincial cabinet will continue to perform their duties, and a reference will be sent to the president for the governor’s dismissal from his office.