LAHORE - Though former bureaucrat Nasir Khosa has excused from taking oath as caretaker chief minister of Punjab, country’s top lawyers are divided over withdrawal of the nominee.
Some lawyers say no legal bar is there if the PTI has withdrawn its nominee and others say it cannot withdraw its nominee after it gave its consent for his appointment as caretaker chief minister.
Hamid Khan, renowned lawyer and senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), says that withdrawal is permissible before caretaker chief minister’s appointment is notified. He says that consultation on caretaker chief minister was done and an agreement was reached, but a notification was not issued yet; therefore, there was no bar if the nominee is withdrawn. “Withdrawal is possible at this stage,” says Khan, arguing that there is no anomaly in the law dealing with the subject matter.
However, Azam Nazir Tarar, another senior lawyer, says that withdrawal at this stage, when the parties have developed a consensus on the nominee, is not possible. “This is not a game. One is not going to do a toss and then making noise to do it again,” says Tarar. “The constitution is silent here as agreement was reached earlier, so retreat at this stage is not possible,” he says.
Anees Hashmi, another legal expert, is of the view that problem is only when the summary sent to the governor is signed. “The law has given a clear way. If no consensus is reached, the matter will go to the parliamentary committee and finally to the ECP,” says Hashmi, who is counsel for Dr Yasmin Rashid in the NA-120 case. He says Article 224 and 224-A have provided a clear way about what should be done if no consensus is reached between the parties.
Advocate Azhar Siddique says one of the parties may withdraw its nominee before he takes oath of his office. “Article 224 cannot be read in isolation; it will be read with Article 224-A and the matter will be all clear,” says Azhar.
There is no bar if the PTI has withdrawn its nominee, he says. If the parties fail to develop a consensus, an eight-member parliamentary committee will decide the matter within three days. In case of parliamentary committee’s failure, the matter will be sent to the ECP, which will decide the matter within two days.
Barrister Zafarullah Khan of Watan Party however says one party, after complete consensus, cannot retreat on its nominee. He believes that this agreement is very important, though, final stage is governor’s signature. “I believe that PTI, at this stage, could not retreat on the agreement and consensus it reached on the interim chief minister,” he said.
Another senior lawyer and former law minister, Dr Khalid Ranjha, says that a party, which has given consent, cannot retreat at this stage unless other factors like eligibility of the candidate nominated for the post come up or he himself excuses from the accepting the post. “It is now fait accompli,” says Ranjha.
“The eligibility of a person who is nominated for the post of caretaker chief minister can be challenged,” he says. In the present situation, Khosa has reportedly excused from taking the responsibility as caretaker chief minister.