LAHORE (Special Correspondent) The Lahore High Court on Friday reinstated the provincial cabinet and Pervez Elahi as Chief Minister as the court assured the court that he would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly after regaining control of the office. .
The Lahore High Court took an oath from Elahi that he will not dissolve the assembly because if he takes this step, it may deepen the ongoing political crisis in the province.
Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman de-notified the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) from the post of Chief Minister after not receiving a vote of confidence despite the passage of several hours.
A five-member bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and comprising Justice Chaudhry Mohammad Iqbal, Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh, Justice Asim Hafeez and Justice Muzmal Akhtar Shabir heard the case.
The court took two adjournments of 10 minutes and one hour and asked Elahi’s lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, to consult his client about the deal.
The court restored him to the post of chief minister after the Muslim League (Q) leader gave an assurance not to dissolve the party. The Lahore High Court issued a notice to all the parties in the case and summoned them on January 11.
While suspending the order of Governor Punjab till the next hearing, the court also did not make it mandatory for the Chief Minister to take a vote of confidence on the order of Governor Punjab.
However, it noted that the court’s order “will not prevent the petitioner from taking a vote of confidence voluntarily”.
Today’s hearing
At the start of today’s hearing, Elahi’s counsel, Barrister Zafar, told the bench how his client was elected Chief Minister. He also mentioned the decision of the Supreme Court which had given a decision in favor of the leader of Muslim League-Q.
Then, Zafar explained the two constitutional measures that can be used to remove a chief minister.
“A chief minister is elected by the assembly and can be removed through a vote of confidence. Another process is to ask the chief minister to take a vote of confidence,” Zafar said. He added that if If the Governor feels that the Chief Minister has lost his majority, a meeting can be convened for this purpose.
Zafar said that “If PTI says that it is not with the Chief Minister, then it can be said that the divine majority has been lost, but the Governor cannot ask the Chief Minister to take a vote of confidence in two hours”.
“Notices need to be sent to all members,” Elahi’s lawyer said. He added that sometimes some legislators are abroad so the Speaker can give 10 days notice.
Justice Shaikh remarked that it is also possible that the Speaker conducts immediate voting. He further said that it is not necessary to give 10 days notice.
On this, Zafar told the judge that the whole process [of convening the assembly session] is between the governor and the speaker. He further said that it is the prerogative of the speaker to fix the date.
“What the governor has done [indicating the chief minister] does not mean that the chief minister has failed to get a vote of confidence. The chief minister does not have the power to call the assembly,” Zafar said.
Justice Sheikh inquired whether you are saying that it is the authority of the Speaker to call the meeting. To this, Zafar replied in the affirmative.
Justice Shaikh inquired that the word secretary is used in the law, then how is it the prerogative of the speaker?
Zafar then told the bench that Rule 24 states that the Speaker calls and adjourns the meeting.
Justice Shaikh told Zafar that the question is about the appropriate time frame.
According to the constitution, the governor can call a meeting. According to the rules, the speaker gives the date of the meeting. Barrister Zafar said that the Chief Minister has to come and take a vote of confidence, he cannot raise it in the air.
The Governor cannot say that the Chief Minister did not take the vote of confidence. How could the Chief Minister take a vote of confidence when there was no session, Zafar questioned.
The lawyer took the stand that there was a difference between the Governor and the Speaker on convening the meeting.
On this occasion, Justice Shaikh intervened and remarked that voting did not take place, he added that if Muslim League (Q) and PTI have a majority, then there is no problem, time can be given.
“For now we only want the suspension of the notification of removal from office. The governor concluded that Pervez Elahi avoided taking the vote of confidence,” Zafar said. He also claimed that the governor violated his oath.
Justice Abid remarked that if there is no cabinet, there is no government in the Mustafa Ampex case.
After that, Justice Shaikh inquired that if the High Court reinstates the Chief Minister immediately, will they dissolve the Assembly? “Similar matter came up during the Manzoor veto case, so can you give us an undertaking that the assembly will not be dissolved?”
In response, Barrister Zafar said that since the no-confidence motion has been moved, the assembly cannot be dissolved. The court then told the lawyer that the no-confidence motion was withdrawn.
The court remarked that if your (client) dissolves the assembly, the petition will become ineffective and we will face a new crisis.
The court then asked Zafar to consult his client and adjourned the hearing for 10 minutes.
After the hearing resumed, Barrister Zafar said that he would not be able to provide any affidavit to the court at this time and requested the court to reinstate the Chief Minister and order him not to dissolve the Assembly.
In response, the Lahore High Court bench noted that the court cannot grant interim relief to anyone without any assurance. How can the court stop the Chief Minister from exercising his constitutional right? Justice Hafeez inquired.
After that, the court once again adjourned the hearing for an hour and asked the counsel to consult with his client.
When the hearing resumed, Barrister Zafar filed an affidavit on behalf of Elahi. Subsequently, the court granted “temporary relief” to the PML-Q leader and reinstated him as chief minister.
Change of bench
The petition was scheduled for hearing earlier today but a judge recused himself from the case, after which the bench was dissolved.
The Chief Justice of Lahore High Court constituted a 5-member bench headed by Justice Abid Sheikh to hear the application.
However, when the hearing began, Justice Shaikh said that Justice Farooq Haider had represented the petitioner in several cases and requested to be removed from the bench.
After which the matter was again sent to the Chief Justice. After that, Justice Hafeez was added to the bench in place of Justice Haider.
Submission
In the petition, Elahi has requested the court to declare the governor’s move as chief minister “illegal”.
The court was told that Speaker Punjab Assembly Sabtain Khan was asked to convene a meeting for a vote of confidence. It added that the Speaker did not call the meeting as one was already underway.
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“No action can be taken against a Chief Minister on the initiative of the Speaker,” the petition said.
Governor Rehman was made a defendant in the case by his principal secretary and the chief secretary of the province.
Political drama
The political crisis in Punjab does not seem to be abating soon as the finance ministry and the legislators sitting on the opposition benches disagreed over who will get the post of chief minister and who will take over next.
In an attempt to remove the chief minister, the governor – a member of the PML-N – had ordered the chief minister to take a vote of confidence at 4 pm on December 21.
But Punjab Assembly Speaker Muhammad Sabatin Khan Punjab – a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader – termed the order unconstitutional and adjourned the ongoing session till Friday – which resumed today.
In response, the Governor disagreed with the Speaker and rejected his arguments for not calling the meeting. He further said that this decision has no effect on the order to hold the meeting for the vote of trust.
Subsequently, in a notification issued in the wee hours of Friday, the governor de-notified Elahi as chief minister citing his reluctance to take the vote of trust.
Rehman said that since he felt that Elahi did not command the confidence of the Punjab Assembly, he was de-notifying him as the chief minister and also dissolving the provincial cabinet.
But PTI and Muslim League (Q) equally rejected this notification and approached the Lahore High Court against it.
