Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) declared deputy speaker Punjab Assembly Dost Mazari, ruling on the election of Chief Minister Punjab as null and void while the SC accepted Speaker PA Pervez Elahi petition and he became Chief Minister Punjab Election by getting 186 votes against Hamza Shahbaz, who got 179 votes.
The top court pronounced the verdict containing 11 pages.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Aijaz Ul Ahsan decided the case.
As per the court ruling, the PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz not remained Chief Minister Punjab any more while the PML-Q leader and prime ally of PTI and candidate for the post of CM Punjab, Pervez Elahi has become the Chief Minister Punjab.
The verdict said that there is no any importance of the ruling of the deputy speaker PA and ordered that Hamza Shahbaz immediately vacate the CM office.
The court also ordered that the Governor Punjab will administer take oath of office of the Chief Minister Punjab today at 11:30 pm tonight.
If in case the Governor Punjab were not administered take oath of office of CM Punjab then President of Pakistan will administer oath of office of the CM Punjab, the court added in its verdict.
The top court also directed the Chief Secretary Punjab to issue notification of the new Chief Minister Punjab immediately.
The SC also ordered to dissolve the Punjab Cabinet while the verdict further said that the oath of Hamza Shahbaz was unconstitutional.
Security On High Alert Before The Verdict Outside The SC
Before the verdict the security outside the SC has been beefed up while strict arrangements of security has been taken at the central gate of the SC.
Two prisoners vans and same number of armoured vehicle have also been called while additional contingent of police personnel have also called for deployment outside the SC.
Leaders of political parties and lawyers are present in the top court while the PTI and PMLQ leaders Monis Elahi, Shibli Faraz, Malika Bukhari, Baber Awan, Asad Umar and Umar Ayub are in attendance in the SC.
The PTI activists have reached outside the SC building on the occasion of the verdict to be announced regarding Deputy Speaker PA Dost Mazari for an election of CM Punjab.
The former ruling party activists are chanting slogans against the existing government. The PTI protesters said that the government minister have run away from the pitch.
The PTI activists said that we have faced cases in the courts and we are not among people who flee.
The protesters claimed that they will celebrate victory over the SC verdict.
Verdict Delayed Twice
The announcement of Supreme Court reserved verdict on Pervez Elahi petition has been delayed for second time.
Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial had first announced that the verdict of Pervez Elahi petition has been reserved and it will be announced at 5:45 pm.
Later the SC apprised that the reserved verdict will be announced on 7: 30.
Now this given time by the SC has passed and no judgment announced yet.
Before this the CJ Umar Atta Bandiyal had reserved the verdict and pronounced that the judgement will be announced at 5:45.
CM Punjab Election On July 22
On July 22, In a shock result, PML-Q’s PTI-backed candidate Parvez Elahi lost the Punjab chief minister’s election to PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz , after Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari ruled that PML-Q members’ votes were not counted in light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s letter.
Hamza received 179 votes whereas Elahi garnered 176 votes, but only after 10 votes of Elahi’s own party were not counted, which turned the tables in Hamza’s favour.
Soon after the contentious ruling was announced, PTI announced that it will approach the Supreme Court tonight.
SC Today’s Hearing
Earlier today, Supreme Court Of Pakistan (SC) reserved a verdict on deputy speaker Punjab Assembly (PA) ruling on CM Punjab election held on July 22.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Aijaz Ul Ahsan resumed the hearing today of the Speaker PA Pervez Elahi petition challenging Deputy Speaker PA Dost Mazari ruling on Chief Minister Punjab Election.
Yesterday, the SC Monday rejected the government and coalition partners, CM Punjab’s petition seeking the formation of a full court for hearing the case of the Punjab chief minister’s election.
During course of the hearing, Chief Justice Umart Atta Bandial remarked that the formation of a full court for the case tantamount to unnecessary delay in the case.
He said The formation of a full court and then hearing of the case could have been delayed till September as leaves are being taken in the court.”
The honourable CJ observed that we were not apprised on which law we make a full court adding that it is the matter of the Chief Executive of the province and we can’t delay in the verdict.
Qadir told the bench that his client had told him to not be a part of the proceedings as a country-wide boycott of the judiciary is being observed.
Qadir told the SC that he would challenge the apex court’s decision relating to the full court — wherein the top court decided to not form a full bench to hear the case.
Following Qadir, PPP lawyer Farooq H Naek came to the rostrum and informed the CJP that he would not be part of the proceedings.
At this, the CJP told him that he “is not a party in the case”.
Meanwhile, the top court sought assistance on the matter relating to directions by the party head or a parliamentary party.
“Assist the court over the legal questions or we will set ourselves aside from the bench,” CJP Bandial told Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel of Elahi.
“People sitting on my right side have unanimously decided to boycott the proceedings of the court,” he said, adding that thankfully, they have enough grace to sit in court to hear the proceedings.
Giving his arguments in the case, Zafar said that the petitions against the 21st Amendment were dismissed by a ratio of 13:4 in a full court.
However, many judges gave different reasons for dismissing the petitions, he added.
Zafar told the court that the constitution mentions that the parliamentary party will give directions to the lawmakers about voting.
At this, the CJP questioned whether the party head and parliamentary party were two separate entities.
Zafar said that they were two separate entities.
CJP Bandial said that the parliamentary party does not may its decision on its own. In light of the political party’s directions, the parliamentary party makes its decision.
Justice Ahsan then said, according to the constitution, the party head follows the parliamentary party’s directions. The CJP said that the parliamentary party does not make a decision unilaterally.
“The parliamentary party is informed about the party’s decision, and based on that, it takes a decision.”
During the proceedings, Justice Ahsan questioned: “Where has the word parliamentary leader been used?”
The PML-Q counsel replied that the world “parliamentary party” is used in the Political Parties Order 2002.
At this, Justice Ahsan remarked that the word “parliamentary leader” instead of “parliamentary party” is just a mistake.
Additional Attorney-General (AAG) Amir Rehman then came to the rostrum and said he wanted to present a few suggestions before the court.
“Has the federal government decided to separate itself from the coalition government?” the CJP asked.
The AAG told the top judge that he will assist the court under Article 27.
At this, the CJP extended an open invitation to assist the court to reach a fair and just decision in the high-profile case.
The court then went on a break for an hour and said that the hearing will resume at 2:30pm.
After the hearing resumed, the former advocate-general of Punjab, Ahmed Owais, came to the rostrum.
“I want to inform the Supreme Court of a few things. For three months, the matter of the chief minister is under discussion. Let me tell the court that Q-league members were aware whom they had to vote for,” Owais said.
He urged the court to review the events that took place not only during the election but also before it.
Moving on, Zafar, while referring to the verdict in former PTI lawmaker Ayesha Gulalai’s case, said that the court had set the procedure for the directions of the party head.
At this, Justice Ahsan remarked that the court, in that case, had delivered its verdict against Zafar’s client.
The lawyer said that the verdict, in that case, was against his client but in accordance with the Constitution.
“Is it written in the Ayesha Gulalai case that who will give directions?” asked the CJP.
It is declared in the case that the party head or a person nominated by them can file a disqualification reference, replied the lawyer.
The CJP then said that the authority is transferred through the party head and there is no doubt that the head’s office plays an important role, but at the same time, the parliamentary party gives directions for voting.
