LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday instructed President Dr. Arif Alvi to appoint a representative in 24 hours to administer oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect Muhammad Hamza Shehbaz Sharif after Governor Punjab Omer Sarfaraz Cheema refused to do so. The court in its order said that the governor Punjab could not refuse to take oath from newly elected chief minister Punjab.

“A copy of the court order should immediately be sent to the president,” LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti said. The CJ LHC Muhammad Ameer Bhatti has issued the short order and detailed judgment will be issued later on.

He gave the verbal order after the hearing of a petition filed by Hamza Shahbaz earlier this week. The PML-N leader had contended that he had been elected chief minister on April 16 in a session held on the directions of the LHC but Governor Cheema was refusing to adhere to his constitutional duty by delaying the oath-taking ceremony.

The judge had earlier adjourned the hearing till 2:00 PM on Friday. Before that, he had warned Cheema to take a decision regarding the oath-taking ceremony or else “the court will announce its verdict”, asserting that the governor had “no justification” to delay the oath.

Punjab Advocate General Ahmed Owais Advocate argued that he had met the governor on court orders and the two of them discussed some objections over administering oath to Hamza. “In the absence of the governor, the speaker of the Punjab Assembly had the responsibility to administer the oath. “But Hamza hasn’t named the speaker as respondent in his petition,” he argued.

When the judge asked whether the governor had given any reason for not administering the oath, Owais replied that the governor believed the chief minister’s election was against the law and the Constitution. “The governor is not a rubber stamp or post office. The Punjab governor has taken an oath and he has to abide by the Constitution,” the advocate general said.

He said he wanted to submit a detailed written response to the court because of the seriousness of the matter.

Justice Bhatti; however, remarked, “If it was so important, you would have prepared for your arguments. You just come to court to take dates.” The judge then dismissed the advocate general’s request to adjourn the hearing, saying that the governor had to respond.

The LHC chief justice further observed that for the past 21 days, the province had been functioning without a government. “The system has come to a stop. What is the governor doing?

“If he doesn’t want to administer the oath, tell us. The law will pave its own way forward,” he said, adding that it was the only way to protect the province.

The advocate general informed the court that he had met Cheema recently, who he said was writing a letter to President Dr Arif Alvi about all the reasons for not administering oath to Hamza.

The judge then questioned what the governor had been doing for the past five days. “When will he send the reasons? I have postponed three hearings because of the lack of a government. The Punjab government’s response was needed but there was no government in the province.”

At this point, the advocate general reassured the court that the letter would be sent soon and no one would be allowed to go beyond constitutional limits.

“But when? Exactly when?” Justice Bhatti grilled Owais, remarking that the court could “not see the system being destroyed”.

“I can’t give an exact time,” Owais replied. “He will write it either today or tomorrow … as per the Constitution, the governor is not accountable to the court.”

On the other hand, PML-N’s counsel Ashtar Ausaf Ali told the judge that the governor was not saying that he is not available but was refusing to administer the oath.

At this, the advocate-general of Punjab said that under Article 104, the governor had “complete rights” to refuse the oath.

However, the LHC CJ remarked that the governor cannot deny performing his duties and issued the short order.

“[A] governor cannot refuse to administer oath. President of Pakistan should appoint another representative for the oath taking,” ruled LHC CJ in the short order. The court also directed its office to dispatch the order with President Arif Alvi.

Meanwhile taking to Twitter, CM-elect Hamza Shahbaz termed the LHC’s decision a “win for the Constitution.” He wrote: “There has been no government for 21 days in the province of 110 million people. The CM was elected under the court orders first and now the Constitution has won regarding the oath-taking.” Criticising the PTI members for not following the Constitution, Hamza said history will remember how they ridiculed the law and Constitution. “This province will lead towards the path of prosperity and development,” he wrote.