Court orders clubbing speaker’s election, lawmakers’ ban pleas

Lahore High Court’s division bench headed by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan ordered to club all petitions challenging contest on Punjab Assembly’s speaker slot of and imposition of ban wherein Pakistan Muslim League’s (PML-N) 18 lawmakers were barred from attending assembly proceedings.

As the proceedings commenced, the petitioner’s lawyer implored the court that PML-N’s MPAs had been barred from attending some session of the assembly. He argued that the PML-N MPAs exercising their right point out the quorum which the assembly Rules allow them to do so but even then their entry was banned for fifteen sittings which is quite against the norms of Rules of assembly procedure.

Speaker Sibtain Khan’s contest on speaker’s slot has also been challenged in LHC which they believe the secrecy of the contest was violated in that election.

“The speaker was elected illegally,” he argued.

Later the court was told about the petitions of similar nature to which the court directed to first club all petitions at one court.

The action was taken following the alleged conduct of some PML-N’s lawmakers who hampered assembly’s proceedings on October 22 when former chief minister Sardar Usman Buzdar was presenting resolution against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision of disqualifying former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Despite repeated requests by the speaker the lawmakers continued passing derogatory remarks and whistling that day.

As many as 10 MPAs (petitioners) had filed petition requesting the court to declare void and illegal the order passed by Speaker Khan. They requested the court that the speaker’s election also be declared void in violation of Rule 9 of the Article 226 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.

PML-N’s senior MPAs Sami Ullah Khan, Azam Zahid Bokhari and others filed petition making respondents to Punjab Assembly speaker, Secretary Assembly and Province of Punjab through secretary law & parliamentary affairs.

They contended in their petition that the rumpus was created by the members of the PTI and PMLQ on behest of unruly remarks by PTI’s senior minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and Fayyaz Chohan but the Speaker showing his partiality illegally and unlawfully banned the entry of PMLN’s lawmakers.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2022.