The Supreme Court will resume hearing on Monday a plea by PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi challenging the plea of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari. decision In the chief minister’s re-election last week, which led to Hamza Shahbaz’s victory.
A three-member bench of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandiyal, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar allowed Hamza – who was re-elected on 22 July – will remain the “trustee” chief minister until Monday (today) at the final hearing.
The bench will hear again today at 1 pm.
An Islamabad police official said in a statement that only leaders of the responding parties would be allowed to enter the court premises with the permission of the SC administration.
He said that the list of leaders has been made available by the political parties in this regard. “No rally, procession or gathering will be allowed in the Red Zone including the Supreme Court.”
In the last hearing on Saturday, the court had summoned the deputy speaker but his lawyer had come in his place. The SC had also issued notices to Hamza, Pakistan’s Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf, Punjab’s Advocate General Shahzad Shaukat and the province’s chief secretary.
It ruled that Hamza must act in accordance with the Constitution and the law during the time period. “As chief minister, Hamza Shahbaz will not use his powers for political gains,” it emphasized.
Separately, at one point during the hearing, Justice Bandiyal remarked that prima facie, the decision of the deputy speaker was against the decision of the apex court. Decision With reference to Article 63-A.
Reading: Highlights of Supreme Court’s order on Elahi’s petition on Punjab Chief Minister’s election
Hamza’s statement
Separately, Hamza’s lawyers today presented a brief statement on his behalf, saying the PML-Q MPs’ votes in favor of Elahi were disregarded based on a letter from party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
It also refers to the past election of chief minister, was held on April 16, with PTI issuing similar instructions to its MPs. 25 MLAs, who did not vote as per the instructions of the party, disqualified It added that the decision on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and their appeals is pending.
“This Hon’ble Court has held that the party chief enjoys a central and decisive role within the party, in the electoral process and in Parliament through the parliamentary party, which he directly controls and supervises … he has direct power. , influence and control how the party will act and function inside and outside Parliament.
The PTI’s directions before the election of the first chief minister, which were upheld by the ECP and the Supreme Court’s decision, formed the basis for the deputy speaker’s decision, the statement said.
The Supreme Court had yet to determine the validity of the ECP’s decision, which “justifies” the deputy speaker’s decision, combined with Article 63-A (relating to the disqualification of MPs on defection).
The statement further said that if the apex court quashes the ECP’s decision to disqualify 25 MPAs, the effect of defection announcement given by PTI’s party chief dated 18.04.
“As a result, 25 votes will not be excluded from the votes cast [Hamza] In the first polling held on 16.04.2022. the resulting, [Hamza]The one who got 197 votes (more than the 186 required in the first election i.e. the majority of the total membership of the Provincial Legislative Assembly of Punjab), shall be the duly elected Chief Minister of Punjab and the resultant second election shall be superseded on 22.07.2022. ,
The statement urged the court to constitute a full bench to hear Elahi’s plea simultaneously, seeking review of the SC’s interpretation of Article 63-A and appeals against the ECP’s decisions.
It also urged the court to dismiss Elahi’s plea.
PML-Q, PPP and JUI-F file petitions
Earlier today, the PPP, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and PML-Q filed separate petitions requesting the apex court to allow them to become parties in the case.
A petition, filed by PML-Q and its chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, said instructions were issued to all MPs to vote in favor of Hamza and a letter in this regard was also sent to the deputy speaker.
Contrary to the orders, the MPA voted in favor of Elahi, which was ignored by the deputy speaker.
“The petitioner (Elahi) has filed an urgent petition challenging the decision of the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, but not making him the most important and necessary party to the intervenors, for reasons best known to him.”
In its petition, the JUI-F said the Supreme Court’s decision to summon Deputy Speaker Mazari “which was unprecedented and outrageous” to his office.
“Draining the powers of the constitutional office of the Chief Minister through an interim order and that too without constitutional or legal backing, would set a bad precedent for the constitutional courts and further vitiate the harmony between the institutions.”
The petition also requested the apex court to constitute a full bench to hear the petition.
Separately, the PPP said in its petition that since seven of its MPs voted for Hamza in the re-election, the party would be affected by the court’s decision on the petition and, thus, should be allowed to become a defendant in the case.
“Refusal to hear the applicant would be oppressive to the judicial conscience and would lead to a situation of injustice which would not be tolerated by a just judicial system.”
Election
During the election on Friday, Mazari rejected all 10 votes cast by the PML-Q on the pretext that he had violated the orders of his party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, citing a letter he received from the vice-chancellor that he Asking your party. MP to support Hamza.
After the votes were counted, the deputy speaker announced that Ilahi received 186 votes, while Hamza received 179 votes. However, he refrained from declaring Elahi as the chief minister.
Instead, he indicated that as party chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the instructions to PML-Q members to vote for Hamza instead of Elahi had more effect.
The deputy speaker then announced that Hamza had won the chief minister’s election, as 10 cast votes reduced Elahi’s tally to 176, while Hamza topped with 179.
God’s plea
Elahi, in his plea, urged the court to term the deputy speaker’s decision to re-elect Hamza as “fake and wrong”.
“Hamza Shahbaz may kindly be disqualified as the Chief Minister of Punjab/Member of the Provincial Legislative Assembly,” the petition said.
It urged the court to declare “unconstitutional” the deputy speaker’s decision to set aside the votes of 10 PML-Q MPs on the basis of Article 63-A of the Constitution.
Instead, the plea said, the court may declare Elahi as a “valid candidate” and allow the PML-Q leader to take oath as the chief minister of Punjab.
The petition further said that Hamza should be stopped from taking oath as the chief minister. Significantly, Hamza was already administered the oath of office by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman on Friday.