CM Punjab election: SC summons PA deputy speaker, Hamza Shahbaz

LAHORE: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial has summoned Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly after PTI and PML-Q filed petitions against the victory of Hamza Shahbaz during the election for CM Punjab on Friday, ARY NEWS reported.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar led the proceedings of the case today.

The apex court also summoned Hamza Shahbaz, attorney general, chief secretary Punjab and advocate general Punjab, and further directed the deputy speaker to bring the record of the CM Punjab election.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that there is nothing in their decision that the deputy speaker mentioned during the assembly proceedings. “We are here to learn and will summon the deputy speaker so that he could identify the paragraph from the apex court’s decision which he used to decide on the matter,” he said.

On the occasion, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan said that the party head could only report on the violation of the orders by the parliamentary party. “It is a democratic tradition that the parliamentary party decides on the matters within the assemblies,” he added.

The court later adjourned the hearing for 2:00 pm.

The proceedings resumed at 2:30 pm with Irfan Qadir Advocate appearing before the court to represent the deputy speaker Punjab Assembly while Mansoor Qadir Advocate appeared on behalf of CM Punjab Hamza Shahbaz.

The additional attorney general and advocate general Punjab also appeared before the bench to assist the court.

Moreover, the apex court also decided to hold the hearing via video link after the courtroom got crowded owing to the presence of a large number of lawyers, political leaders, and others.

SC admits PML-Q plea against CM Punjab election

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has admitted a plea filed by PTI candidate for CM Punjab Parvez Elahi on Saturday night against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s ruling to reject 10 PML-Q votes.

The counsel representing Parvez Elahi submitted the plea to deputy registrar of the Supreme Court at the Lahore Registry.

It stated that the election for CM Punjab was held today where Parvez Elahi secured 186 votes, however, the deputy speaker in an unconstitutional and illegal manner gave a ruling to reject the 10 votes.

The petition stated that the ruling violated the apex court’s decision with regard to the interpretation of Article 63 A of the Constitution and asked the court to annul the ruling.

CM Punjab election

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz was re-elected as the chief minister (CM) of Punjab after votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) were rejected by the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker.

According to details, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari – who chaired the session – ruled that the votes of PML-Q lawmakers will not be counted in the election of Punjab chief minister in the light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s letter.

Pervaiz Elahi – joint candidate of PTI and PML-Q – received 186 votes, while Hamza Shahbaz got 179 votes. However. 10 votes of PML-Q were cancelled by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, hence taking the figure to 176.