LHC hears Pervaiz Elahi’s plea against governor's de-notification order

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) is hearing Pervaiz Elahi’s plea challenging Punjab Governor Balighur-Rehman’s order to de-notify him as chief minister, ARY News reported.

The bench, headed by Justice Abid Aziz, includes Justice Tarim Saleem Sheikh, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal and Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir.

At the outset of the hearing today, Pervaiz Elahi’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar presented his arguments, saying that his client was elected as the chief minister on July 22.

The petitioner contended that a chief minister could only be removed from office through a no-confidence vote. “A [no-trust] motion can be tabled with the signatures of 20 MPAs. The second process is to ask the chief minister to take a vote of confidence,” said Zafar.

At his, the court observed that if the Punjab governor had asked the CM to seek a vote of confidence, his orders should have been implemented.

The bench observed that a new crisis will emerge if the court dismisses governor’s de-notification order and plaintiff dissolved assembly.

“If your [client] dissolves the assembly, then a new crisis will be upon us,” the court remarked.

“Can you give us an undertaking that the assembly will not be dissolved?” the court asked Barrister Ali Zafar.

At this, Elahi’s lawyer excused submitting an undertaking on behalf of his client.

The court then asked Zafar to consult his client and adjourned the hearing for 60 minutes.

Elahi challenges de-notification order

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Friday moved Lahore High Court (LHC) against Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman for denotifying him as Punjab’s chief minister.

In a petition, filed through his lawyer, Elahi, argued that the Punjab governor did not fulfil the constitutional requirement and ordered a vote of confidence during the ongoing session of the Punjab Assembly.

The petition maintained the governor did not authorise to summon assembly session when the current session was already underway.

It said that a no-confidence motion was already submitted against the chief minister in the Punjab Assembly, adding that Governor Balighur-Rehman has no authority to de-notify the chief minister through an “unconstitutional” order.

Pervaiz Elahi pleaded with the high court to declare the governor’s order “null and void”.

CM Pervaiz Elahi de-notified

Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman in a late Thursday night move denotified the Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi for not seeking the vote of confidence despite his advice.

The Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman issued a notification in this regard. Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi and his cabinet were constitutionally made inactive for not seeking the vote of confidence from the provincial assembly.

The Punjab governor shared the order on Twitter and said since CM Pervaiz Elahi has refrained from obtaining the Vote of Confidence at the appointed day and time therefore he ceases to hold office.