ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday termed unconstitutional the decision of the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker to set aside 10 votes and cast PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi politically. The nominated chief minister of an important province. This decision has dealt a big blow to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Pervez Elahi, who lost the election on Friday despite securing a majority, challenged the decision of Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, in which Prime Minister Sharif’s son Hamza was declared the winner.
A bench of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandiyal, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, which heard the case, ruled that Pervez Elahi is the chief minister of Punjab province. During the election, Mazari cited a letter written by party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to give a verdict against the counting of votes of 10 PML-Q legislators who were in favor of Elahi.
The court also ordered the Punjab governor to administer the oath of office to Pervez Elahi before 11:30 pm on Tuesday. It provided that if the Governor does not administer the oath to Elahi, President Dr. Arif Alvi can do so.
Earlier, Chief Justice Bandiyal had said that the judgment would be issued at 5:45 pm and was later fixed for 7:30 pm. However, the verdict was delivered after a delay of three hours.
Elahi had secured 186 votes against 179 votes of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Hamza Shahbaz, but 10 of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) legislators by Deputy Speaker Mazari. He was defeated after the vote was rejected. Mazari’s decision was challenged by Elahi and the court on Saturday asked Hamza to continue as the “trustee” of the chief minister.
