LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday dismissed an intra court appeal (ICA) challenging the appointment of Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar as deputy prime minister.

A two-member bench headed by Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal announced the verdict it reserved the other day.

A woman activist, Ashba Kamran, filed the appeal after her writ petition was dismissed by a single bench.

During the last hearing, Additional Attorney General Mirza Nasar Ahmad had opposed the petition, saying the prime minister had the discretionary power to appoint a deputy prime minister under the rules of business.

He had clarified that Senator Ishaq Dar was not exercising any powers or receiving any salary or perks associated with the deputy prime minister’s office.

The appellant in person contended that the appointment of a non-elected individual (senator) to a post that implies executive authority was unconstitutional and legally flawed, as the Constitution did not recognise such a position.

The activist asked 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.

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

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025