CM Punjab election case: Hamza Shahbaz, bar councils seek formation of full court as SC resumes hearing

Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz and the lawyers’ bodies have sought the formation of a full court to hear the PML-Q’s petition as the Supreme Court resumed the CM election case today.

At the outset of today’s hearing, Advocate Latif Afridi came to the rostrum and pleaded to the court on behalf of lawyers’ bodies, saying the system is facing dangers as there are numerous challenges.

“The review petition in the Article 63A case should be fixed before a full court,” Afridi said.

Prior to it, CM Hamza Shahbaz had also demanded the apex court to form a full court to hear the case.

The PML-Q had challenged the ruling of Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari who discarded 10 votes of the party polled in favour of Pervez Elahi against the direction of the party president.

He had approached the court challenging Mazari’s move, pleading the court to dismiss the deputy speaker's ruling as the “parliamentary party” had decided to vote for Elahi during the chief minister election on Friday.

After the initial hearing on Saturday, a three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, directed Hamza Shahbaz to work as a "trustee" chief minister till the next hearing.

The court had observed that Hamza Shahbaz could exercise limited powers as per the law and Constitution.

SCBA, coalition partners demand full court

Meanwhile, the ruling alliance and the Supreme Court of Bar Association (SCBA) have demanded the formation of a full court to hear the case citing the sensitivity of the matter.

SCBA President Ahsan Bhoon said the full court is needed to ensure the interpretation of the Constitution in the right way and to restore the trust of the political parties.

Previous hearing

During Saturday's proceedings, Advocate Irfan Qadir appeared on behalf of the deputy speaker and sought time for filing a detailed reply in the matter.

The chief justice observed that it was a serious matter and the court wanted to decide it as early as possible, adding that one day''s time could be granted.

At this stage, Elahi's counsel Barrister Ali Zafar pleaded with the court to restrain Hamza Shahbaz from forming the cabinet and fix the matter for hearing on Sunday.

However, the bench observed that Hamza could maintain a small cabinet and noted that if the arguments were not concluded on Sunday, then the matter would have to be heard on Monday.

Subsequently, the bench adjourned further hearing till Monday and observed that it would be heard at Supreme Court, Islamabad.

Earlier, the bench had summoned Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari in personal capacity, along with the relevant record, at 2:30 pm and issued notices to the respondents after hearing the initial arguments of the counsel for petitioner Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, in the morning.

In his arguments, Barrister Ali Zafar submitted that the elections for the slot of chief minister Punjab were held on July 22, as per directions of the apex court.

He submitted that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi got 186 votes whereas Hamza Shahbaz secured 179 votes.

However, the deputy speaker rejected 10 votes of PML-Q, cast in favour of Pervaiz Elahi, after ruling that PML-Q members’ votes were not counted in the light of party head Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s letter, he added.

He submitted that the deputy speaker declared Hamza Shahbaz as the returned candidate who secured 179 votes.

He submitted that the deputy speaker's ruling was not only illegal but also unconstitutional.

He pleaded with the court to set aside the ruling for being unconstitutional.