At the outset of Thursday’s hearing on the National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker’s ruling case, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial stated unequivocally that the Supreme Court (SC) would refrain from interfering in the election of the Punjab chief minister and would instead focus exclusively on the deputy speaker’s ruling and the dissolution of the NA.
“You may approach the Lahore High Court (LHC) to redress your grievances,” the CJP observed while speaking to the Advocate General of Punjab (AGP), who stated that he wanted to bring to the attention of the apex court the fact that the situation in the province was extremely tense.
“A flagrant violation of the constitution occurred on Wednesday when Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly (PA) Hamza Shehbaz was crowned chief minister during a ceremony at Lahore’s Faletti’s hotel,” he said, adding, “Even former Punjab governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar convened a meeting of provincial bureaucrats.” And he is scheduled to take the oath of office today at Lawrence Garden from de facto CM Hamza.”
Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel stated that he witnessed the Punjab Assembly’s building being sealed yesterday on television. “What are you doing in Punjab?” he enraged.
“Do not make a speech in the courtroom,” CJP Bandial instructed, directing the advocate general of Punjab to file a written reply in the case.
