LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thu­rsday disposed of a petition filed by Chief Minis­ter Chau­dhry Parvez Elahi against an order of Gover­nor Balighur Rehman asking him to seek a vote of confidence from the Pun­jab Assembly, noting that the impugned order had been complied with.

As a larger bench hea­ded by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh resumed the hearing, Advo­cate Mansoor Usman Awan appeared on behalf of the governor and informed the judges that his client had received a report from the assembly speaker confirming that the chief minister had obtained the trust vote in compliance with the impugned order.

As a consequence, he said, the governor withdrew his Dec 22 order that had de-notified the chief minister and his cabinet.

The bench observed that the petitioner had obtained the vote of confidence during the pendency of his petition in the Jan 12 sitting of the assembly. It noted that a notification to this effect had been issued by the speaker and the same had also been communicated to the governor on the same date.

The bench observed that in view of the statement made by the counsel, it was evident that the im­­pugned order stood complied with and the governor had affirmed his pleasure and was not proceeding against the petitioner.

“We do not need to adjudicate upon the justiciability of the reasons/grounds stated in order dated Jan 19, 2022 of the Governor Punjab for reaching satisfaction in terms of Article 130(7) of the Constitution and merits of the order of the Speaker of the Assembly,” the judges said in the order.

The bench disposed of the petition and set aside the Dec 22 notification issued by the chief secretary regarding the de-notification of the chief minister and the cabinet.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2023