Seventeen Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPAs on Thursday filed an intra-court appeal against the Lahore High Court's (LHC) decision ordering the Punjab governor to complete the oath-taking process of Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz by April 28 (today).

Yesterday, LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti had ruled that Hamza's oath was being delayed on "one pretext or the other" and had directed Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema to ensure the completion of the process of administration of oath of Chief Minister Punjab, "either himself or through his nominee on or before April 28".

The written order passed on the petition of Hamza stated: "All provisions of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, suggest prompt formation of federal government and provincial government.

"For that matter, expeditious administration of oath either by President or by Governor or their nominee, as the case may be, is mandatory; as all expected reasons/options causing delay are excluded/procured by suggesting/providing alternate mechanism and I do not find any vacuum or space in the Constitution for causing any delay in administration of oath required under Constitution."

The court had also instructed President Dr Arif Alvi to facilitate the administration of the oath and "play his role mandated by the Constitution/Law" by ensuring a functional government in Punjab.

In the appeal submitted today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the PTI lawmakers named Hamza, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through his principle secretary, Secretary to President Alvi, and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani as respondents.

They contended that the high court, in its order, ignored the chaos that occurred in the assembly on April 16 — the day Hamza was elected — and proceeded to conduct judicial proceedings "with utterance comprising rude remarks against the constitutional officers such as the Governor of Punjab and the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan".

"The haste and the procedure manifest an absence of justice, particularly, in a matter which must be heard by a larger bench comprising not less than 7 judges of this honourable court, hence, this instant appeal," the appeal stated.

The petition argues that the president could act in his discretion in respect to any matter that has been empowered to him by the Constitution.

The MPAs contended that Article 133 of the Constitution also said that "the Governor may ask the Chief Minister to continue to hold office until his successor enters upon the office of the Chief Minister".

"Article 248 of the Constitution provides protection to the President, Governor, the Prime Minister, a Federal Minister, a Minister of State, the Chief Minister and a Provincial Minister shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise of powers and performance of functions of their respective offices or for any act done or purported to be done in the exercise of those powers and performance of those functions," the appeal stated.

Subsequently, the PTI MPAs demanded that the order passed by LHC be "set aside being illegal, unlawful, whimsical as well as beyond the facts of the case and a clear violation of Articles 48, 133, 248 and 255 of the Constitution in the interest of justice, equity and fairplay".

Later in the day, the LHC Registrar Office raised objections over the appeal as stamp papers were not affixed to the petition.

Stalled oath

The controversy around Hamza's oath started on April 17, a day after he was elected as chief minister, when Governor Cheema had refused to administer oath to him stating that the Punjab Assembly secretary's report, the LHC's instructions and the facts presented to him raised questions on the validity of the chief minister’s election.

"I have written to the Punjab advocate general and the Punjab Assembly speaker to seek their opinion on the assembly secretary's report, LHC directions and other facts to make up my mind whether to hold the oath-taking ceremony at the Governor House or not," he had said, adding that he could not endorse anything beyond the ambit of the Constitution.

Following Cheema's presser, a news item quoting PML-N central spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb came to light, in which it was claimed that the governor had been removed from his office by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif using his discretionary powers.

The governor had, however, rejected the claim, saying he held a constitutional office and would continue to hold it. "Only the president of Pakistan has the power to de-notify a governor, which has yet not been done," he had asserted.

Subsequently, Hamza had approached the LHC. During the hearing, the court had instructed President Alvi to appoint a representative to administer oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz.

However, on April 25, Hamza had filed a petition the LHC for the second time for its intervention regarding his oath-taking ceremony saying that President Alvi had delayed the nomination of another individual to perform the duty, as directed by the high court earlier.

Hamza had argued that the president's and governor's non-compliance with the court order and Constitution regarding the administration of oath to him had "rendered them unable to discharge their constitutional obligation".