Dissolution of assemblies: LHC grills petitioner over irrelevant plea

Petitioner's counsel implores the court that dissolving assemblies may create further crises

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court (LHC)'s Justice Shahid Karim on Tuesday came down hard over the filling of irrelevant petitions in courts while hearing a plea seeking direction to concerned quarters to restrain the Punjab Assembly (PA) from dissolution.

However, the court dismissed the plea as withdrawn when Justice Karim remarked that "the petitioner will not be left with even a single penny to go back home if the plea is not withdrawn," at which the petitioner's counsel withdrew the petition.

As the proceedings commenced, the petitioner's counsel implored the court that the country's prevailing economic crises does not allow for elections, and dissolving assemblies may create further crises.

The counsel further implored the court that Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi had vowed not to dissolve the assembly and had said that it will complete its tenure.

Further, the petition stated that it would be unconstitutional for the assemblies to be dissolved merely on the direction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan.

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In his response, Justice Karim said that the conditions under which the assemblies are being dissolved are very clear. He questioned how someone could be forbidden from exercising their constitutional right.

Justice Karim commented that such petitions are a waste of the court's time and questioned why they are filed.

Last week, Imran Khan announced that the final date to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies will be December 23.

By dissolving the assemblies where his party is at the helm of affairs, the PTI chief is staking his hard-earned political ground on a bid to trigger early elections.

He said he had thoroughly consulted PTI lawyers before pulling off the provincial power play to spur polls and emphasised that the constitution does not allow elections to be delayed beyond 90 days of an assembly’s dissolution.

He then announced that his party would now be starting its election campaign.