LHC directs Governor Punjab to administer oath to Hamza by April 28

Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed Governor Punjab Omar Sarfraz Cheema to administer oath to Chief Minister elect Hamza Shahbaz by April 28.

The high court, while announcing the verdict, added that if Governor Punjab does not want to administer the oath, he can nominate some other official swear in the chief minister of the province.

Hamza was elected as Punjab’s chief minister on April 16. However, he hasn’t sworn in yet as his oath-taking was deferred twice despite the LHC’s directives for not delaying the matter any further.

The LHC had reserved the verdict on Hamza’s plea on Tuesday, which is the second time PML-N has reached out to the high court for the resolution of the matter.

Earlier, on April 22, the LHC, in a petition of Hamza, ruled that the governor could not refuse oath to a newly-elected chief minister of a province and expected that the president would nominate any person to administer oath to Hamza Shehbaz without a delay.

In his fresh petition, Hamza said it was evident that the governor and the president were not ready to obey the court order, therefore, it was imperative that a person be nominated by the court in order to protect the Constitution and to enforce its provisions with full force.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt