CM Punjab's removal: LHC imposes Rs100,000 fine on Hamza Shahbaz

LAHORE: Chief Justice Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz, the Punjab government and Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari for not submitting a reply in a case related to the CM‘s removal, ARY NEWS reported.

The chief justice passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the PTI and PML-Q for the removal of Hamza Shahbaz after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified 25 lawmakers of the Punjab Assembly for voting in favour of Hamza Shahbaz.

The CJ LHC directed them to submit the fine in the account of the Lahore High Court Bar.

During the hearing, the chief minister’s counsel sought two days for submitting the response from Hamza Shahbaz. The court admonished him and said that he should have submitted the response two days before rather than seeking more time in the case.

The PTI counsel during the hearing said that Hamza Shahbaz does not have the majority in the Punjab Assembly. “The question is not whether Hamza has the majority or not. The question is if the Supreme Court’s decision will be applied on previous cases or not,” the chief justice said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PTI had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) to declare the election of Hamza Shahbaz election as chief minister Punjab null and void.

The petition has been filed by MPA Sibtain Khan and four other lawmakers of the PTI arguing that lawmakers from PTI and PML-Q were forcefully removed from the House during the election process.

“The police forcefully barred our lawmakers from voting during the election process,” they said and asked how police were allowed to enter the assembly when private people were refrained from doing so.