Pak govt urges top court to take suo motu notice of Punjab crisis

The Pakistan federal government's decision comes after the Lahore High Court (LHC) Friday reinstated the provincial cabinet and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the chief minister. The Lahore High Court announced the decision after Chaudhry Parvez Elahi assured the court that he would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly after he takes office.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lahore, Railways and Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Food Security Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema urged the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice of the ongoing turmoil in Punjab, according to Geo News. Sanaullah stressed that the governor has the constitutional right to ask the Chief Minister to seek a vote of confidence if he plans to dissolve the provincial assembly to satisfy someone's ego.

Rana Sanaullah asserted that they would not let two provincial assemblies 'fall prey to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan's arrogance,' as per the Geo News report. He stated that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is making efforts to ensure that the assemblies complete their tenure. The PML-N leader stated that PTI and PML-Q would not have run from the vote of confidence if they had the numbers.

"PDM is trying to ensure that all the assemblies complete their tenure," Geo News quoted Rana Sanaullah as saying. Khawaja Saad Rafique expressed his displeasure over LHC's decision to reinstate Parvez Elahi as Chief Minister of Punjab, as per the news report. Rafique stated that the decision is not as per legal parameters. He announced that their legal team is considering options to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday reinstated PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as the Punjab chief minister, Dawn reported. The court's decision came after Elahi gave an undertaking assuring the court that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly. The court issued the directives after a five-member bench took up Elahi's plea challenging Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman's orders to de-notify him as the provincial chief executive.

Chaudhry Parvez Elahi filed the petition after Punjab Governor on Thursday denotified him as Punjab's Chief Minister in order to prevent ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan from dissolving the assembly. The hearing was stopped for an hour after the court asked Elahi's lawyer, barrister Ali Zafar, to seek assurance from his client concerning the dissolution of the assembly, according to Dawn.

After the hearing resumed, Elahi gave an undertaking wherein he said that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly until the next hearing, according to Dawn. Following the submission of the undertaking, the court reinstated Elahi as Punjab's CM and asked the respondents to submit a response at the next hearing scheduled for January 11, 2023. (ANI)