Chief Justice Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti Monday constituted a larger bench to hear an appeal against an order by the same court directing the National Assembly speaker to administer oath to Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz. The bench comprises Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, Justice Shahid Jamil Khan, Justice Shehram Sarwar, Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh. The decision to form a five-member bench was taken in response to a petition by the PTI lawmakers requesting the high court to set aside Justice Jawad Hassan’s verdict for being “illegal as well as beyond the facts of the case”, says a news report. The plea had also asked to expunge the “rude remarks” passed by Justice Jawad against the constitutional officers such as the governor of Punjab and the president of Pakistan in his judgment. The petition was heard by a division bench headed by Justice Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh as its member. The bench on the same day (April 30) referred this matter to the LHC CJ with a recommendation to form a larger bench comprising five or more judges to hear this matter. The bench had also suspended some observations given by the LHC’s single bench Justice Jawad Hassan in his judgment’s para 9. “Although while passing the judgment this court has enunciated the principles of law having a binding effect under Article 201 of the Constitution which have been disregarded not only by the president of Pakistan but also by the governor of Punjab, causing non-fulfillment of his constitutional duty thereby violating Article 5 read with Article 189 and 201 of the Constitution,” the judge had written in the ruling.
