Counter suits: PM disqualification plea challenged
Petition moved against petition seeking high treason case against PM.
LAHORE:
A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court questioning the maintainability of another petition seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani.
The instant petition was filed by Advocate Muhammad Afaq against Advocate Allah Bakhsh Gondal’s plea that the prime minister be disqualified and charged with high treason, for allegedly neglecting his responsibility to protect the constitution and subverting it by defying orders passed by the Supreme Court.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial had already admitted Gondal’s petition for regular hearing and issued notice to the attorney general and the federal government. Through Advocate AK Dogar, Gondal had also sought the annulment of Article 6(3) of the Constitution, which provides only for the federal government to move a high treason case. The petitioner asked for a court order to widen the scope of the law so anyone could move a complaint of high treason.
The petition filed on Tuesday asks the court to dismiss Gondal’s plea as he did not have locus standii to seek a high treason case against the prime minister, and the motive for moving the plea was malicious.
The petition says Gondal’s plea should also be dismissed because it “desecrated holy names”.
Afaq later told The Express Tribune that the original petition made incorrect use of the phrase ‘peace be upon him’ and in some places said God instead of Allah.
Governor issued notice at official address
A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday against issued notice to the Punjab governor as chancellor of all public universities in the province as it heard an appeal against a single bench’s verdict okaying the appointment of vice chancellors to six schools.
On Tuesday, the bench was told that the notice previously issued to the governor by the court had been dispatched to Government College University (GCU) along with another notice to its vice chancellor.
At this, the bench headed by Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry ordered the court official to serve the notice to the governor at Governor’s House and adjourned the hearing till September 14. Meanwhile, Advocate Mian Abdul Qaddus filed a letter-of-attorney on behalf of GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khaliqur Rehman.
Dr Hassan Amir Shah, Dr Yousaf Hayat, Dr Shaukat Ali and Dr Maqbool Hussain Sial filed the appeal against Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh’s verdict on their earlier petition on June 24. They had argued that the Punjab government’s search committee had committed irregularities in selecting the best candidates for the positions.
Besides many other grounds in the appeal, the petitioners submitted that the Higher Education Department had no role in the selection of vice chancellors, either as per the applicable statutory regime or as per the Rules of Business of the Punjab government.
VC told to reconsider five applications
The Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the vice chancellor of Faisalabad Agriculture University to re-examine the admission applications of five female candidates and decide their cases on merit.
The court issued this order while disposing of a petition moved by Asma Ahsan and others who were denied admission to the college by Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad.
The petitioners through their counsel contended that their admission applications had been rejected without reason and he was refusing to reconsider them. They asked to be admitted to the university.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2011.
A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court questioning the maintainability of another petition seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani.
The instant petition was filed by Advocate Muhammad Afaq against Advocate Allah Bakhsh Gondal’s plea that the prime minister be disqualified and charged with high treason, for allegedly neglecting his responsibility to protect the constitution and subverting it by defying orders passed by the Supreme Court.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial had already admitted Gondal’s petition for regular hearing and issued notice to the attorney general and the federal government. Through Advocate AK Dogar, Gondal had also sought the annulment of Article 6(3) of the Constitution, which provides only for the federal government to move a high treason case. The petitioner asked for a court order to widen the scope of the law so anyone could move a complaint of high treason.
The petition filed on Tuesday asks the court to dismiss Gondal’s plea as he did not have locus standii to seek a high treason case against the prime minister, and the motive for moving the plea was malicious.
The petition says Gondal’s plea should also be dismissed because it “desecrated holy names”.
Afaq later told The Express Tribune that the original petition made incorrect use of the phrase ‘peace be upon him’ and in some places said God instead of Allah.
Governor issued notice at official address
A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday against issued notice to the Punjab governor as chancellor of all public universities in the province as it heard an appeal against a single bench’s verdict okaying the appointment of vice chancellors to six schools.
On Tuesday, the bench was told that the notice previously issued to the governor by the court had been dispatched to Government College University (GCU) along with another notice to its vice chancellor.
At this, the bench headed by Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry ordered the court official to serve the notice to the governor at Governor’s House and adjourned the hearing till September 14. Meanwhile, Advocate Mian Abdul Qaddus filed a letter-of-attorney on behalf of GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khaliqur Rehman.
Dr Hassan Amir Shah, Dr Yousaf Hayat, Dr Shaukat Ali and Dr Maqbool Hussain Sial filed the appeal against Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh’s verdict on their earlier petition on June 24. They had argued that the Punjab government’s search committee had committed irregularities in selecting the best candidates for the positions.
Besides many other grounds in the appeal, the petitioners submitted that the Higher Education Department had no role in the selection of vice chancellors, either as per the applicable statutory regime or as per the Rules of Business of the Punjab government.
VC told to reconsider five applications
The Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the vice chancellor of Faisalabad Agriculture University to re-examine the admission applications of five female candidates and decide their cases on merit.
The court issued this order while disposing of a petition moved by Asma Ahsan and others who were denied admission to the college by Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad.
The petitioners through their counsel contended that their admission applications had been rejected without reason and he was refusing to reconsider them. They asked to be admitted to the university.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2011.