The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday requested Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry to constitute a larger bench for hearing a petition seeking Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani’s disqualification.
The petition seeks the PM’s disqualification for not abiding by court orders. Justice Umar Ata Bandial admitted for hearing the petition filed by Allah Bakhsh Gondal through AK Dogar. The judge issued notices to the attorney general thrice to hear his version on the matter but he did
not show up.
However, after hearing the petitioner’s counsel, the court referred the petition to the CJ with request to place it before a larger bench in view of its significance and importance of the constitutional issues involved in the petition.
Two other petitioners Afaq Ahmed and Akhtar Shah sought permission to become a party to the said petition. They said that Gondal was not a party to any previously decided petitions. The court had already issued notice to the respondent on the pleas.
PR not responsible in courts or at tracks: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday showed displeasure on non-compliance of court orders for clearance of Rs 4.50 million legal fees payable to 60 legal advisors of Pakistan Railways and summoned the financial advisor of railways for explanation on October 5.
Pakistan Railways Assistant Law Officer Abdul Majeed Anjum appeared in court and said that the entire payment had been sanctioned but not paid so far. The court was given the same excuse on the last hearing as well, hence Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed expressed annoyance at the delaying tactics being using by railways and observed, “No one seems to have taken responsibility in the Pakistan Railways either in courts or at railways tracks and apparently deliberate attempts are being made to mislead this court.”
Justice Saeed was hearing petitions filed by Arshad Virk and other lawyers, who have been serving the Pakistan Railways as legal advisors at the divisional level. Their salaries of the last two years have not been paid on the pretext that railways was facing some “financial difficulties”. The court summoned the railway’s financial advisor in court on October 5
along with the relevant record
of the outstanding fees of the
legal advisors.
The court warned railway authorities that if the department was unable to pay salaries to its legal advisors, the huge residences of officials at Mayo Gardens will be sold for this purpose.
