LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Amir Bhatti has ordered Punjab Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema to administer the oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza Sharif tomorrow (Thursday) or appoint another person to do so.
On Wednesday, the LHC CJ announced the decision while hearing a petition filed by Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz seeking the appointment of a person to administer the oath to him.
Yesterday, the chief justice reserved his decision, which he announced today.
In his ruling, CJ Bhatti ordered Governor Cheema to administer the oath to CM-elect Hamza tomorrow, and that if the governor refused, another person be appointed to perform the ceremony.
The judge requested that the President fulfill his duties and order that the constitutional requirement of swearing in the Chief Minister-elect is fulfilled.
By tomorrow, the judge ordered that the oath be administered to CM-elect Hamza Shehbaz.
He bemoaned the fact that the province had been without a chief minister for the previous 25 days. In the courtroom, the additional attorney general and additional advocate general were also present.
The court had prohibited any unconcerned person from entering the courtroom.
Outside the courtroom, a large number of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf women workers were present.
During yesterday’s hearing, Chief Justice Bhatti inquired as to which statute empowered the governor to investigate the chief minister’s election.
He went on to say that the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker was not an ordinary person when the court asked him to conduct elections. “He was acting as a presiding officer at the time of the new provincial chief minister’s election,” he explained, “but the way the LHC order was flouted on election day was for everyone to see.”
The Punjab advocate general has asked the CJ to be cautious.
CJ Bhatti, on the other hand, wondered how a province could function without a chief minister. “It’s unfortunate what’s been going on in Punjab with the constitution for the last 20 to 25 days,” he said.
The judge expressed his displeasure with the CM-inordinate elect’s delay in being sworn in. He was curious as to what was preventing the president from appointing another representative.
Chief Justice Bhatti remarked, “Should the court itself nominate some representative for administering the oath?”
The judge claimed that not taking the oath from the CM-elect was a violation of the Constitution. He wondered under what constitutional authority all of this deliberation was taking place.
