Punjab governor to file reference against LHC judge

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema said on Thursday that he has decided to send a reference against Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Justice Jawad Hassan to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for what he called an “illegal decision” of directing the National Assembly speaker to administer oath to Chief Ministerelect Hamza Shahbaz.

The SJC is a specialised forum created under Article 209 of the Constitution specifically for determining complaints of misconduct received against judges.

Addressing a press conference, Cheema said he has decided to take legal action against the judge ater consultations with professionals over the last two days. Last month, Justice Hassan issued a nine-page verdict ater Hamza approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for the third time, ending a days-long deadlock over the chief minister’s office in Punjab.

Subsequently, Hamza, who was elected as Punjab chief minister on April 16, was administered the oath by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on April 30.

Cheema termed the LHC judge’s verdict “illegal,” saying that according to the honeycomb principle, no institution could “interfere” in the working of another institution.

There was no provision in the Constitution that stated that anyone besides the president or the governor could issue a notification regarding the new chief minister, he added.

The governor also shared that he had requested meetings with the president and the army chief to discuss the situation in the province.

He also advised Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to make his son, Hamza, aware of how to contest the election for the chief minister in a constitutional way, stressing that he would administer the oath himself if Hamza did that.

Meanwhile, he has appealed to Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa to play his due role in the implementation of the constitutional framework in the province.

In a leter to the army chief, the governor expressed his concerns over the prevailing political crisis in Punjab and urged him to play his role in restoring people’s confidence in provincial and federal governments.

Cheema also sent copies of his leters to Shahbaz Sharif and President Dr Arif Alvi over the Punjab crisis to the army chief.

The governor wrote a leter to Shahbaz about the political and constitutional crisis in the province and vowed to protect the country’s Constitution by utilising all of his skills and abilities. “No power can bar me from stopping unconstitutional actions of your son Hamza.”