Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti Tuesday reserved a verdict on a petition filed by Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz seeking directives for the implementation of the court’s earlier orders regarding the administration of oath.
The verdict will be announced at 10am today (Wednesday).
During the hearing, the CJ expressed concerns over the non-implementation of the court’s previous order.
“What steps have been taken by the president in the absence of the cabinet and the government? The court order was sent to the president but it was not implemented,” he said.
He added, “The President House was sleeping and its eyes were closed; it was the court that drew its attention about its powers to appoint someone to administer the oath to wrap up the prevailing constitutional crisis.
“The president and the Governor(‘s) House threw the court’s order in the air, they seemed reluctant to comply with the court’s orders,” he observed. CJ Bhatti then inquired, “Can you quote even a single step which the president took to wrap up the constitutional crisis?”
While responding, the Punjab advocate general said that the Presidency was working on it and wasn’t sitting idle. However, the judge said: “One thing is very clear that neither the governor nor the president of Pakistan is willing to comply with the court [order].”
The counsel for Hamza argued that “the president and the governor claim to act in light of the constitution but this does not seem the case at all.”
“I gave sufficient [order] to prevail better sense but all in vain,” CJ Bhatti said.
Subsequently, the court reserved the decision in the case.
