LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday restored an intra-court appeal challenging the appointment of Senator Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister and scheduled the hearing for March 26.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal resumed the hearing on the appeal of activist Ashba Kamran.

Initially, the bench had dismissed the appeal due to non-appearance of the petitioner.

However, shortly after, the petitioner appeared in the court, apologised for the delay, and requested the restoration of her appeal.

The bench accepted the request and restored the appeal.

The activist filed the appeal after a single bench of the LHC dismissed her writ petition against the appointment of the deputy PM.

The appellant argues that there is no provision in the Constitution for the office of deputy prime minister. She says the respondent was appointed merely through a notification issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

She states the deputy PM is considered a deputy to the PM, who is elected by members of the National Assembly through a vote.

Therefore, as a Senator, Ishaq Dar cannot hold the position of the deputy PM, she adds.

The activist asks the division bench to declare Senator Dar’s appointment as deputy PM unconstitutional and also set aside the decision of the single bench about dismissal of her petition.

Before the single bench, a federal law officer had opposed the maintainability of the writ petition, saying the petitioner had no locus standi to assail the appointment. He argued that there was no illegality in the appointment of Senator Dar.

The bench had on May 16 dismissed the petition for being not maintainable.

The cabinet division on April 28, 2024 issued a notification giving additional charge of deputy prime minister to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

According to the notification, the appointment was made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “with immediate effect and until further orders”.

NAWAZ: The Lahore High Court on Thursday dismissed for non-prosecution a petition against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for presiding over a Punjab government meeting.

The Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir court heard the petition filed by a citizen, Mashkoor Hussain, challenging PML-N President Nawaz Sharif’s participation in Punjab government meetings.

Neither the petitioner nor his lawyer appeared in the court when the judge took up the petition.

The petition contended that a member of the National Assembly cannot preside over a provincial government meeting, yet PML-N MNA Nawaz Sharif continued to do so. It stated that Nawaz Sharif’s chairing of the cabinet meetings was illegal.

It asked the court to restrain the PML-N chief from presiding over such meetings in future.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025