Appeals filed against LHC verdict on Hamza Shehbaz oath-taking

LAHORE: Two intra-court appeals have been filed on Thursday in the Lahore High Court against the court decision of administering oath to Chief Minister Punjab-elect Hamza Shehbaz, ARY News reported.

The MPAs of the PTI and PML-Q have filed appeals against a single bench’s decision on Wednesday, whic directed Governor Punjab Omar Sarfraz Cheema to complete oath-taking process by today.

In appeals, Hamza Shehbaz, the Prime Minister and President through their secretaries and the Governor via his principal secretary, have been made party.

Azhar Siddique and Rana Mudassar advocates have filed appeals on behalf of the provincial assemblies.

“The high court’s decision has been against the constitution and the law, fixing a period for oath-taking by the court has been an insult of the offices of the President and the Governor,” according to appeals.

“The high court was not empowered to act against the president and the governor as Article 248 of the constitution provides protection to them,” the appeals read.

The appeals seek the high court to declared the single-bench’s decision as void.

The petition also sought the court to also repeal its April 22 decision.

It is to be mentioned here that two separate appeals have been filed against the high court’s decisions on April 22 and yesterday.

Governor Punjab Omar Sarfraz Cheema earlier decided against administering oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz after the Lahore High Court directed him to complete oath-taking process by today.

According to sources privy to the matter, the governor was briefed on options available to him against the Lahore High Court’s decision by legal experts.

It was decided that all options would be utilized and sources said that initially an intra-court appeal would be filed in the high court against the decision.

“If needed, the high court’s decision will be challenged before the Supreme Court,” the meeting agreed after legal experts briefed that the court could not exceed its constitutional limit and issue directives to president and governor.