HYDERABAD, July 3: The circuit bench of the Sindh High Court issued on Tuesday notices to Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Ellahi and secretaries of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Cabinet Division on a constitutional petition questioning induction of Mr Ellahi as the deputy prime minister on the ground that there was no provision for such post.

The attorney general has also been put on notice for July 24.

The petition was filed by Liaquat Ali Baloch, joint secretary of District Bar Association, Kashmore.

He is represented by Advocate Noorul Ameen Sipyo.

He said the prime minister had exceeded his authority by designating Mr Ellahi as his deputy. Such notification is ultra vires to the Constitution.

He said the post had been a demand of PML-Q and former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had resisted it on legal grounds.