IHC seeks answers from govt over Presidential Ordinances

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the federal government and Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan on a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Mohsin Ranjha challenging the promulgation of ordinances by the government.

Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah heard the case. During the course of hearing, Umar Gillani, counsel for Mohsin Ranjha, said as per Article 89 of the Constitution, the President was only authorised to issue ordinances when the government needed to respond to an emergency situation. Chief Justice Athar Minallah questioned the counsel whether the opposition raised that issue in the National Assembly, to which Gillani responded: “Yes, we had written to the Speaker against him”.

The chief justice then asked the counsel how ordinances were used in India, to which Gillani responded they were only used in special situations. Gillani said the obvious reason why the federal government rushed with those ordinances was that it did not want to meaningfully engage with the opposition in the Parliament.