–Bench says Tareen’s actions do not violate Article 199 (a) (1) of the Constitution
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Jahangir Khan Tareen is not ineligible to inaugurate government projects, the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Bahawalpur bench ruled on Thursday.
The bench said this while hearing a petition seeking a ban on Tareen inaugurating projects of federal and provincial governments. The petition stated that since the senior PTI leader was disqualified by the court from being a member of the parliament, he cannot act on the government’s behalf as it would be a violation of Article 199 (a) (1) of the Constitution.
The article 199 (a) (1), which describes the jurisdictions of the high courts in Pakistan, states that a high court can make an order “directing a person performing, within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, functions in connection with the affairs of the federation, a province or a local authority, to refrain from doing anything he is not permitted by law to do, or to do anything he is required by law to do”.
Referring to the said clause, the court ruled that Tareen’s actions did not violate it. The court thus dismissed the petition. The court added that Tareen cannot interfere in the government’s policy matters but is allowed to inaugurate its projects.
