LAHORE, Dec 30: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan says he is preparing a case for the provincial government to take up the ‘unconstitutional’ steps of Governor Salman Taseer with the federal government.

Appointment of some Lahore High Court judges by the governor without consulting the Punjab government had created a controversy.

The provincial government considers the step “unconstitutional” as except under Article 112 (2) b (dissolution of the assembly subject to prior approval of the president) and Article 145 (1) of the Constitution (power of the president to direct governor to discharge certain function as his agent), the governor has no discretionary powers in any administrative affairs of the province.

The Governor’s House, however, claims that Article 193 authorises the president to appoint high court judges and it does mention consultation with the chief justice of Pakistan and the governor concerned and not the chief minister of the province.Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, Rana Sana says Article 112 and Article 145 clearly mention that in the exercise of powers under these articles, the governor will be free from provisions of Article 105 that bind him to seek advice from the chief minister before taking any step. He maintains that Article 193 does not carry any such exemption.

The law minister says the PML-N has two options at its hands: either to get a resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly against the governor recommending the federal government to frame a law for punishing violator(s) of the Constitution before taking action against the governor under Article 6. Or the matter may be directly raised by PML-N MPs in the parliament.

The law minister said that judges’ appointment was not the only “unconstitutional” measure taken by the governor, he (Tasseer) was also violating his oath by indulging in political activities. He was making a reference to governor’s visit of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s Lahore residence this Sunday.

The governor, he says, can neither participate in political activities nor hold any political dialogue under the law.

Rana Sana calls governor’s repeated visits to ‘Q Leaguers’ as “evidence that remnants of Gen Musharraf are joining hands to fail the democratic system after the Feb 18 polls”. Taseer had held a portfolio in the interim cabinet Gen Musharraf formed before the Feb 18 polls.

The provincial minister, however, is hopeful that all attempts to destabilise the Punjab government will remain futile.

He claims that one of the 10 points the PPP-PML-N committee had agreed on to run the coalition government in the province is that none of the two parties will have any contact with the PML-Q at any cost.

Taseer’s meetings with the Chaudhrys mean that either the PPP has a double policy or the governor is deviating from the party policy as well as violating his oath.

He claims that even if the governor had any support from the Presidency and the PPP, he is dodging them too.