LHC orders NA Speaker to administer oath to Hamza Shehbaz

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered National Assembly Speaker to take oath from Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz.

The court issued its reserved verdict on a third plea filed by Hamza Shehbaz and ordered the NA Speaker Raja Perviaz Ashraf to administer the oath to him at 11:30 AM by tomorrow Saturday, April 30.

Hamza Shehbaz had filed a third plea seeking the administration of oath to him by “a person nominated by the court” owing to the “defiant attitude” of President Arif Alvi and the Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema. Hamza has sought the high court’s intervention in his oath-taking ceremony as the government had delayed his oath-taking ceremony on several grounds.

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Jawad Hassan asked about the order passed by the LHC CJ. Hamza’s counsel read the order out loud and told the court that the president and the Punjab governor were blatantly violating the Constitution.

Justice Jawad had asked Hamza’s lawyer why his client was not filing a case of contempt of court. The lawyer said Hamza wanted to present the matter of the oath-taking before the court.

Justice Hassan remarked that no one should have the audacity to flout the court’s directives. “This is a matter of the court’s respect. No one should have the audacity to challenge the high court’s decisions,” Justice Hassan said. He also regretted the fact that two orders passed by the high court were not implemented, adding that he would make a decision based on the Constitution.

Hamza’s lawyer told the court that LHC had issued directives for holding the chief minister’s election. He added that the governor was refusing to administer the oath to the chief minister-elect in contravention of the court’s directives. 

When the hearing continued after a short break, Justice Hassan asked why the petitioner had not made the president and the Punjab governor respondents in the case. Hamza’s lawyer replied by saying there was no need to make them respondents in the case. He did not rule out the option of filing a contempt of court case.

Punjab Additional Advocate General Umair Niazi contended that proceedings could only move forward once the Punjab advocate general was issued a notice under Article 27-A of the Constitution.

He told the court that the Senate chairman could also administer the oath. He added that the president or the Punjab governor could administer the oath or appoint a representative to do the same. During the hearing, the court accepted the plea of 17 Punjab lawmakers for becoming a party in the case.