The chief justice held that the appointments were constitutional, as under Article 48 (2) of the Constitution. PHOTO: FILE
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of the caretaker prime minister and the caretaker chief minister.
The petitioner, Advocate Muhammad Irfan Mukhtar, had argued that the appointments were unconstitutional as they did not originate with the president, in the case of the interim prime minister, or the governor, in the case with the interim chief minister.
The chief justice held that the appointments were constitutional, as under Article 48 (2) of the Constitution, the president was bound to heed the prime minister’s advice on the appointment.
The petitioner had submitted that Mir Hazar Khoso was appointed caretaker prime minister by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after a parliamentary committee of the government and opposition failed to agree on a consensus candidate, while Najam Sethi was selected as caretaker chief minister of the Punjab by a parliamentary committee including government and opposition members in the province.
But according to Article 224, he argued, the caretaker prime minister was to be appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister and opposition leader in the outgoing National Assembly, while the caretaker chief minister was to be appointed by the governor in consultation with the chief minister and opposition leader in the outgoing provincial assembly.
President Asif Zardari had not consulted the prime minister or opposition leader, and the Punjab governor had not consulted the chief minister and opposition leader to select the caretakers, he submitted. The Constitution required that the president and governor initiate the proposals for the appointments, he argued. Thus, the appointment of the interim administration had violated constitutional requirements.
On Tuesday, the chief justice dismissed the petition as not maintainable.
Plea against ‘illegal’ appointments
Also on Tuesday, the Lahore High Court directed the ECP to explain what steps it had taken to annul the appointment of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) deputy governor, made after the commission imposed a ban on government hiring.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah turned down a request for a stay on the appointment, but summoned a senior State Bank official for Wednesday (today). He said that he would not suspend the appointment until the respondents had a chance to give their view.
The petitioner has asked the court to ensure that Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution are implemented so that ineligible candidates are stopped from running in the upcoming elections.
The petition also seeks the cancellation of all job appointments and transfers made by the federal and provincial governments in the period before the setting up of caretaker governments, as these constituted “bribes to voters”.
During arguments on Tuesday, the petitioner’s counsel said that the ECP had on January 22 imposed a blanket ban on appointments, but then prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on March 6 appointed Ashraf Mahmood as deputy governor of the SBP.
The counsel said the ECP took notice of this and ordered the government to withdraw the appointment, but the order had not been complied with. He alleged that the appointment was made “to benefit bank defaulters”.
When asked about this by the judge, a representative of the ECP sought time to file a reply. The judge adjourned the case for a day.
The petition also asks the court to seek details of all expenses incurred (especially those from the prime minister’s discretionary fund and under the head of advertisements), vacancies filled, promotions and transfers made, and plots distributed from January 22 to March 16.
“If the record shows that the decisions were rushed through just to meet the deadline [for the dissolution of the government] of March 16, the same should be declared void ab-initio and not having any legal effect,” it reads.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2013.
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