LHC will deal with Punjab Assembly matter: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Responding to the ongoing political crisis in Punjab after Speaker Pervaiz Elahi's order to seal the provincial legislature, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday said that the Lahore High Court will deal with the Punjab Assembly issue.

The crisis in Punjab worsened on Wednesday after Pervaiz Elahi and Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Khan Mazari came face to face, with the former barring the latter from holding the provincial assembly session in the evening by installing barbed wires and locking the assembly gates.

CJP Umar Ata Bandial made the remarks during the suo moto hearing into a case relating to the ongoing constitutional crisis in the country that emerged after the ruling of the NA deputy speaker and the subsequent dissolution of the Lower House on the advice of PM Imran Khan.

Read more: Punjab PA crisis deepens

A five-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel was hearing the case.

At the outset of today’s hearing, CJP Umar Ata Bandial said that their focus is on the National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling, adding that the LHC will look into the Punjab Assembly’s matter.

He issued the ruling when Punjab Advocate General Ahmad Awais apprised the court that the Punjab Assembly’s situation turned alarming last night as PML-N’s Hamza Shahbaz has been “elected” as the chief minister of the province at a local hotel and he would be administered oath as Punjab CM by the former Punjab governor at Bagh-e-Jinnah today.

Read more: PML-N's Hamza  'elected CM Punjab'

At this, the CJP asked the advocate general to stop delivering speeches, adding, “We are not touching Punjab Assembly matter in the proceedings.

He maintained that they did not want to get themselves involved in Punjab’s problems.

Speaker, deputy row over session

The Punjab Assembly Secretariat, on the directions of Ch Pervaiz Elahi, did not allow Sardar Mazari to conduct the assembly session he had called for Wednesday at 7:30pm, in accordance with the assurance given to the Supreme Court of Pakistan by the Punjab advocate general.

Upon the orders of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, the PA Secretariat even disallowed entry to the MPAs, which created a violent situation outside the building, where the opposition members raised slogans against the speaker and staged a sit-in.

Talking to The News, Sardar Mazari said he had called the session in line with the assurance, given to the SC by the Punjab advocate general, as a constitutional requirement. “I did not consult the Punjab government, the PTI or the speaker. I summoned the Assembly session in the light of the Supreme Court orders,” he said adding that the assembly secretariat was not cooperating with him.

The situation became very tense in the country's biggest province when the deputy speaker summoned the session on Wednesday, April 6, instead of April 16. After observing the situation, the ruling party filed a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari.

In response, the joint opposition had also decided to file a no-confidence motion against Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, who is a candidate for Punjab chief minister-ship. When the opposition leaders reached the Punjab Assembly, its gates had already been closed. Neither the MPAs nor the media persons were allowed to enter the assembly building to submit the no-confidence resolution. All gates were closed and a heavy contingent of police was deployed at the gates.