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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered President Arif Alvi to appoint a representative to administer oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz, who was elected on April 16, after Punjab Governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema refused to adhere to the constitutional command.
The directives were given by LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti in a short order after he observed that the Advocate General Punjab (AGP) Ahmad Awais had till 2pm today to communicate with governor Cheema regarding his duty to draft an explanation to the president.
He made the remarks during the hearing of a petition filed by Hamza earlier this week. The PML-N leader had contended that he had been elected chief minister on April 16 in a session held on the directions of the LHC but Cheema was refusing to adhere to the constitutional command by delaying the oath-taking ceremony.
During the hearing today, Punjab Advocate General Ahmed Owais said that he had met the governor on court orders and the two of them discussed some objections that they had to Hamza’s oath taking.
“In the absence of the governor, the speaker of the Punjab Assembly had the responsibility to administer the oath. But Hamza hasn’t named the speaker as respondent in his petition,” he argued.
When the judge asked whether the governor had given any reason for not administering the oath, Owais replied that the governor believed the chief minister’s election was against the law and the Constitution. “The governor is not a rubber stamp or post office. The Punjab governor has taken an oath and he has to abide by the Constitution.”
The advocate general said he wanted to submit a detailed written response to the court because of the seriousness of the matter. Justice Bhatti, however, remarked, “If it was so important, you would have prepared for your arguments. You just come to court to take dates.”
The LHC chief justice further observed that for the past 21 days, the province had been functioning without a government. “The system has come to a stop. What is the governor doing?
“If he doesn’t want to administer the oath, tell us. The law will pave its own way forward,” he said, adding that it was the only way to protect the province.
The advocate general informed the court that he had met Cheema recently, who he said was writing a letter to President Dr Arif Alvi about all the reasons for not administering oath to Hamza.
The judge then questioned what the governor had been doing for the past five days. “When will he send the reasons? I have postponed three meetings because of the lack of a government. The Punjab government’s response was needed but there was no government in the province.”
At this point, the advocate general reassured the court that the letter would be sent soon and no one would be allowed to go beyond constitutional limits.
“But when? Exactly when?” Justice Bhatti grilled. “I can’t give an exact time,” Owais replied. “He will write it either today or tomorrow … As per the Constitution, the governor is not accountable to the court.”
Governor denies oath to Hamza
At a press conference earlier this week, Cheema had declined to administer oath to Hamza stating that the Punjab Assembly secretary’s report, the LHC’s instructions and the facts presented to him raised questions on the validity of the chief minister’s election.
“I have written to the Punjab advocate general and the Punjab Assembly speaker to seek their opinion on the assembly secretary’s report, LHC directions and other facts to make up my mind whether to hold the oath-taking ceremony at the Governor House or not,” he had said, adding that he could not endorse anything beyond the ambit of the Constitution.