Supreme Court nullifies deputy speaker ruling, orders Elahi to take oath tonight

ISLAMABAD, July 26 (SABAH): Supreme Court of Pakistan Tuesday declared deputy speaker’s ruling on Punjab chief minister election null and void after hearing arguments on petitions related to the recently held election for the coveted post.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar announced the reserved verdict after over a three-hour delay.

“The governance of the Province of Punjab in accordance with the Constitution has been subverted whereby the fundamental rights of the people have been seriously infringed. As a result, the Ruling dated 22.07.2022 issued by Respondent No.1, Deputy Speaker, Punjab Assembly is set aside and declared to be void, without lawful authority and of no legal effect,” read the short cour’s order.

The court declared the 10 votes of PML-Q lawmakers, which were rejected by Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari citing party chief Chaudhry Shujaat’s letter in the CM election, as valid.

The apex court in its short verdict ordered the petitioner, Elahi to take oath of the Punjab CM at 11:30pm tonight and ordered incumbent Punjab CM Hamza Shehbaz to leave the post of the province’s chief execute immediately.

The apex court also nullified all decisions taken by ‘trustee CM’ Hamza after controversial chief minister election in which Hamza bagged 179 votes against Elahi’s 186 votes.

The three-judge bench also held that the deputy speaker misinterpreted the apex court order on Article-63A related to the defection clause and “subverted the Constitution”.

The President will administer oath of the chief minister to Pervaiz Elahi if the same was not performed by the Punjab governor, read the verdict.