‘Unconstitutional’ appointment : Federation given till Feb 13 to respond

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Monday gave the federal government till February 13 to submit a response to a petition challenging Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal’s appointment as acting governor. During last Friday’s hearing, the government had been asked to submit its response. A new notice was issued as it failed to do so on Monday. The federal government has yet to submit a copy of the appointment notification as well. Petitioner Munir Ahmad had stated that Iqbal’s appointment was in violation of the Constitution because it allowed caretaker appointments only when the office was temporarily vacant. Currently, he said, the office of the governor was permanently vacant because of Chaudhry Sarwar’s resignation. He had requested the court to issue directions for the government to remove Iqbal from the office and make a permanent appointment.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2015.