LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Amir Bhatti has ordered Punjab Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema to administer oath to Chief Minister-elect Hamza Sharif today (Thursday) or appoint another person who could administer oath to him, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

The LHC CJ announced the verdict on Wednesday while hearing a petition filed by Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz for the appointment of a person to take oath from him.

The chief justice reserved the three-page verdict yesterday which he announced today. 

In his ruling, CJ Bhatti directed Governor Cheema to administer the oath to CM-elect Hamza tomorrow and if the governor did not want to perform the swearing-in then another person should be appointed for this task. 

The judge asked the President to perform his role and order the completion of the constitutional requirement of swearing-in of the Chief Minister-elect.  

The judge ordered to take steps to administer the oath to CM-elect Hamza Shehbaz by tomorrow. 

He deplored that following the resignation of Usman Buzdar, the province had been running without a chief minister for the last 25 days. 

The court observed that the solution to remove the impediments in the oath-taking had also been discussed in the Constitution 

In its Friday ruling, the court had asked the President of Pakistan to appoint a representative for administering the oath to the Punjab chief minister-elect as Governor Cheema had expressed his inability to do so citing irregularities in his election. The day after the ruling, the Punjab capital was abuzz with the news that the president had appointed Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani for this purpose but later the buzz proved a rumour. 

Today, CJ Bhatti directed to immediately send the court order to the Punjab governor. 

The additional attorney general and additional advocate general were also present in the courtroom. 

The court had banned the entry of any unconcerned person in the courtroom. 

A large number of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf women workers were present outside the courtroom.  

During yesterday’s hearing, Chief Justice Bhatti asked under which law was the governor authorized to look into the genuineness of the chief minister’s election.

He went on to say that the court asked the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker to conduct elections, he was not an ordinary person. “He was acting as a presiding officer at the time of election of the new provincial chief minister,” he said, adding that but the way the LHC order was flouted on the election day was for everybody to see.”

The Punjab advocate general requested the CJ to exercise restraint. 

But CJ Bhatti wondered how on earth could a province function without a chief minister. “What has been happening with the constitution in Punjab for the last 20 to 25 days is unfortunate,” he remarked.

The judge expressed his displeasure over the inordinate delay in the swearing-in of the CM-elect. He wondered what holding the president from nominating some other representative. 

“Should the court itself nominate some representative for administering the oath,” Chief Justice Bhatti remarked. 

The judge said that the Constitution was being violated by not taking oath from the CM-elect. He wondered under which constitutional mandate all this delay was being made.

Hamaz says Constitution bigger than egos 

Earlier, talking to media, CM-elect Hamza Sharif advised President Arif Alvi and Governor Cheema not to sully the history. He said that constitution was greater than any ego. 

He told the president and governor to display sanity. He said there was only one person who violated the constitution by refusing to administer oath to him. 

He said he hoped for the good from the court today. 

Tarar says Hamza will take oath tomorrow 

PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar said that both the president and the governor had violated the constitution. No more excuses will do from them anymore, he added. 

He said God willing, Hamza will be sworn-in tomorrow. He asked Governor Cheema to go home. He said that the president and the governor would not evade from this constitutional requirement anymore. 

Reporter Malik Ashraf