LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday sustained objections of the registrar office and dismissed a ‘public interest’ petition by a citizen challenging the proposed dissolution of the Punjab Assembly by Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi apparently on the instructions of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

The office objected that the petitioner had no locus standi to agitate the matter nor he furnished an attested copy of the advice sent by the chief minister to the governor for the dissolution of the assembly.

Justice Shahid Karim took up the petition as an “objection case”, sustained the objections of the office and dismissed the petition. Petitioner Salman Khalid Cheema, also a lawyer, submitted through his counsel that it was apparent that the decision of the chief minister to dissolve the assembly was being dictated by the PTI chairman and was not his (CM) own independent view.

He said the dissolution of an assembly relates to a critical constitutional question as it involves the demolition of an important organ of the state. “And this is particularly crucial when the dissolution is carried out in a manner where public functionaries are acting in violation of their constitutionally mandated duties,” he added.

The petitioner argued that it was a settled law that the discretionary powers that vested in a public authority were to be exercised honestly and fairly and in a whimsical manner. He stated that the courts had repeatedly held that such discretion must be exercised with rational reasons. He alleged that the chief minister exercised his discretion on the dictation of a person who had no constitutional authority to take such a decision.

He argued that the dissolution of an assembly before the expiry of its constitutional term must be justified by definite reasons provided by the Constitution. He asked the court to prevent the dissolution of the provincial assembly on ‘arbitrary’ and ‘whimsical’ grounds.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2023