LHC orders NA speaker to administer oath to Punjab CM-elect Hamza

Lahore: Breaking deadlock over the oath-taking of new Punjab chief minister, the Lahore High Court Friday ordered National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf to administer the oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:30am.

The court issued the verdict after the PML-N leader sought its intervention for a third time over his oath-taking process.

Earlier today, Hamza had filed a petition seeking the administration of oath to him by "a person nominated by the court" owing to the "defiant attitude" of President Arif Alvi and Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema.

In the order issued today evening, Justice Jawad Hassan of the LHC directed Speaker Ashraf to administer the oath to Hamza by tomorrow at 11:30am.

During the hearing earlier today, Justice Jawad had asked Hamza's lawyer why his client was not filing a case of contempt of court. At this, the lawyer said, for the time being, Hamza wanted to present the matter of the oath-taking before the court.

However, he did not rule out the option of filing a contempt of court case.