The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari’s ruling wherein he disregarded the votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s lawmakers in the Punjab chief minister’s election, as illegal while ruling that Parvez Elahi was the chief minister.
The three-member bench gave the ruling that Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman to administer oath to Parvez Elahi before 11:00pm on Tuesday.
The bench also ruled that in case the Punjab governor did not administer oath to Elahi, President Arif Alvi should do so.
Moreover, the SC in its verdict also declared the cabinet formed by Hamza Shehbaz as illegal.
The Supreme Court had earlier reserved the verdict in the Punjab chief minister’s election case after hearing all the parties.
Earlier, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari’s attorney Irfan Qadir said that his client had opted not to participate in the matter any further.
The Supreme Court resumed its hearing of the case pertaining to the PA deputy speaker’s ruling in the chief minister’s election on Tuesday.
In response to Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Court on the full court bench, Qadir told reporters, “There has been an unprecedented boycott across the country.”
“My client has chosen to exercise his constitutional right and submit a request for a review of yesterday’s ruling,” the statement reads.
Irfan Qadir expressed his optimism that the review petition would be heard by a full court bench or a bench other than the three-member panel.
PPP attorney Farooq H. Naek also opted out of the court proceedings.
Fawad Chaudhry criticizes coalition govt’s decision to boycott Supreme Court hearing
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Fawad Chaudhry prior has stated that the government sought to avoid the lawsuit because it lacked evidence to back up its claims.
On Tuesday, he criticized the ruling coalition by claiming that “the administration does not recognize the Supreme Court of Pakistan”.
Fawad Chaudhry praised the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the request for a full court bench in the Punjab CM election issue and said that “such cases are only heard by experienced judges across the world”.
He added that they should have addressed their errors and the political leadership in the province after the results of the Punjab by-election, at which point Hamza should have tendered his resignation as Punjab CM.
The former information minister criticized the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for its disrespectful behavior toward the SC and asserted that a democratic society thrived when a loser acknowledges their defeat.
He added, “Bar associations have denounced such actions numerous times; the PDM should respect the will of the people. This case shouldn’t have been brought here; don’t burden the SC with politics.”
Fawad emphasized that the CJ cannot be ordered around and demanded that the judiciary be allowed to operate independently.
The hearing
The Supreme Court has resumed its hearing of PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s petition contesting the deputy speaker’s decision in the recent Punjab chief minister’s re-election, which resulted in Hamza Shehbaz’s victory.
During the poll on Friday, on the grounds that they had disobeyed Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s directions, Mazari rejected all 10 of the PML- Q’s votes. He did this by referencing a letter Hussain had sent to party lawmakers requesting that they support Hamza.
Parvaiz Elahi received 186 votes, while Hamza received 179, according to the deputy speaker’s announcement following the tallying of the ballots. Mazari did not, however, appoint Elahi as chief minister.
Instead, he suggested that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s orders to PML-Q members to vote for Hamza rather than Elahi held more weight in his capacity as party leader.
The case contesting Mazari’s decision, which was crucial to Hamza Shehbaz’s victory, is being heard by a three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar.
