Pervaiz Elahi moves LHC against Punjab governor's de-notification order

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

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 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.

The notification stated, “Consequent to the facts that Ch Pervaiz Elahi, Chief Minister Punjab refrained from obtaining vote of confidence at 04:00PM yesterday, in line with an Order under Article 130(7) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, issued under my hand on 19 December 2022, in line with Rule 22(7) of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, 1997, and that he still has not done so even after the lapse of another twenty four hours, I am satisfied that he does not command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Punjab Assembly, and therefore ceases to hold his office with immediate effect”.

The order further stated that the provincial cabinet was not dissolved as a consequence of the de-notification of the chief minister.

“In terms of Article 133 of the Constitution, Ch Pervaiz Elahi, former Chief Minister of Punjab is hereby asked to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office of the Chief Minister,” it added.

Taking to Twitter, the former federal minister claimed that the governor’s step to de-notify Pervaiz Elahi was not legally binding. “Elahi and the provincial cabinet will continue functioning as usual,” he added.

گورنر پنجاب کا وزیر اعلیٰ کو ڈی نوٹیفیکیشن کرنے کے نوٹیفکیشن کی کوئ قانونی حیثئت نہیں، پرویز الہیٰ اور صوبائ کابینہ بدستور اپنے فرائض سر انجام دیتی رہے گی، گورنر کے خلاف ریفرینس صدر کو بھیجا جائیگا اور ان کو عہدے سے ہٹانے کی کاروائ کا آغاز کیا جا رہا ہے https://t.co/ieD3XtAVCv

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 22, 2022

Fawad Chaudhry further announced that a reference will be sent against the governor to President Dr Arif Alvi as part of proceedings to remove him from his office.