LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday dismissed a petition challenging the acceptance of former Punjab chief minister Sardar Usman Buzdar’s resignation by ex-governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar after the chief justice berated the petitioner for having no locus standi in the case.
The petition was filed through Advocate Nadeem Sarwar in which petitioner M Tanveer argued that former governor Muhammad Sarwar had violated the Constitution by accepting the resignation.
The petitioner had requested the court to declare the action of the former governor ‘illegal’ because he had accepted the resignation in which he had not been addressed. It also called on the court to restrain Hamza from taking charge as the chief minister till the petition is decided.
During today’s proceedings, LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti asked the petitioner’s counsel if he was an aggrieved party? “I am representing a public’s large interest case,” the counsel responded, adding that the former CM Buzdar’s resignation is illegal as he had not addressed the Punjab governor.
The chief justice expressed his resentment, saying the petition was tantamount to making a joke out of the court. “Is this a democratic system? The whole of Pakistan is in turmoil. No one has patience,” he said.
The LHC chief justice said he was dismissing the petition with a fine of Rs1 million. At this, the petitioner urged the judge to allow him to withdraw his plea. The court then dismissed the petition as withdrawn without the imposition of a fine.
On April 1, Sarwar had formally accepted Buzdar’s resignation and summoned a session of the Punjab Assembly for the election of a new provincial chief executive. Two days later, Sarwar was removed from the post and replaced with Cheema.
Over the weekend, Hamza was elected the new chief minister after garnering 197 votes during a Punjab Assembly session marred by violence.
The governor is refusing to administer oath to Hamza saying that the Punjab Assembly secretary’s report, the LHC’s instructions and “the facts presented” to him raised questions about the validity of the chief minister’s election.
