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WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
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| Plea for governor’s disqualification |
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LHC reissues notices to AG, Punjab advocate general
Saturday, March 20, 2010
By our correspondent
LAHORE: A five-member full bench of the Lahore High Court on Friday reissued notices to the attorney general and the Punjab advocate general on a writ petition seeking disqualification of Governor Salmaan Taseer on the charges of holding profitable offices of various private companies and allegedly turning the Governor’s House into an office of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The bench issued the notices again as the attorney general did not appear before the court. Punjab Advocate General Khawaja Haris turned up before the court but did not submit his reply. The court adjourned the hearing till March 29. The full bench comprised Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Justice Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain, Justice Umar Ata Banial, Justice Iqbal Hamidur Rehman and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
The petitioners, Mian Waqas Riaz, Chief Executive of Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills, Lahore, through his counsel AK Dogar had submitted that from the day one, Governor Taseer had been openly advancing the cause of the PPP, vowing to make the province its stronghold. He submitted the governor’s actions were a violation of the constitutional provisions because the governor, according to the Constitution, was supposed to be a neutral figure and was required to maintain a non-partisan image.
The petitioner said it seemed that Taseer was acting as a person deputed by the president to activate and run the office of PPP in the province. He said Taseer was the chief executive and owner of the First Capital Security Corporation Limited, Chairman of the Media Times Limited, Director of the World Call Telecom Limited and Director of the Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills. Moreover, Taseer misused the funds and resources of the Punjab government as he used official vehicles and services of the government employees for attending meetings of private companies he owned.
The petitioner said it was obvious from the circumstances that the respondent was using the public money, funds and the government employees’ services for the benefit of his party. He said under the Constitution, the governor could not hold any office of profit during his tenure and Taseer had violated the related constitutional provision. The petitioner said that under Article 103, the governor of a province could not engage himself in any activity meant for his personal gains.
He requested the court to declare Taseer disqualified from holding the governor’s office. He prayed that till the decision on the petition, the respondent be restrained from holding the PPP meetings in the Governor House.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
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