LHC full bench to hear Asghar Abdullah plea

LAHORE:A full bench of Lahore High Court will hear the petition of veteran writer and columnist, Asghar Abdullah, challenging the order of the caretaker Punjab government removing him from the post of president of Majlis-e-Taraqqi-e-Adab.

Hearing the petition, Justice Abid Aziz of Lahore High Court on Friday observed that petitioner’s counsel Barrister Haroon raised important point that caretaker government clearly overstepped its mandate in removing his client. The judge cited the same point raised in the petition of Advocate General Punjab Ahmad Awais, and said the petition was being sent to the chief justice for constituting a full bench on the issue. The petitioner pleaded that he was appointed by a constitutionally elected government of Punjab as president of Majlis-e-Taraqqi-e-Adab on December 5, 2022 by meeting the relevant legal criteria. He said the present caretaker government has a mandate of only 90 days to oversee holding of elections in the province and has no constitutional and legal authority to nullify his appointment as president of Majlis-e-Taraqqi-e-Adab which is purely a non-political institution.