LAHORE: Hearing a petition against the appointment of all advisers and special assistants to the prime minister, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Wednesday observed that the batting pitch for the federal government was wet as well as grassy.

In cricket terms, a grassy and wet pitch is considered a graveyard for batsmen as it helps a pacer swing the ball erratically.

Chief Justice Khan took up the petition by a young lawyer as “objection case” since the registrar office had questioned unavailability of impugned notifications of the appointment of the respondents.

After hearing initial arguments by petitioner Advocate Nadeem Sarwar, the chief justice said to a deputy attorney general that as per the assertions of the lawyer, the government was batting on a wet and grassy pitch. He advised the law officer to come fully prepared on the next hearing after Eidul Azha.

The chief justice also upheld the registrar office objection and directed the petitioner to present the appointment notifications of the respondents.

The lawyer has argued in his petition that the respondents not being members of the National Assembly could not exercise authority and power of the federal government, which was a domain of elected representatives of the people. He said the appointment of dual national special assistants was also against the national interest and defence of Pakistan.

He pleaded that as per Article 90 of the Constitution, the executive authority of the federation shall be exercised by the prime minister and federal ministers. The cabinet of ministers had been authorised by Article 91(1) and the prime minister was only the head of the cabinet; he cannot assume power of any federal minister.

He has asked the court to restrain all the respondent special assistants and advisers from exercising executive authority of the federation.

LAW OFFICER: Hearing another case, Chief Justice Khan withdrew a previous order wherein the federal law minister and the office of the attorney general of Pakistan were asked to take notice of ill-preparedness of a deputy attorney general, who appeared in a case about changing the name of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Malik Israr, the aggrieved law officer, filed an application requesting the chief justice to recall the order against him.

The CJ allowed the application, but observed that the appointment of law officers to please political personalities was destructive for the government. He said the incompetence of the law officers should be a matter of concern for the government.

He also asked the office of the attorney general to review its performance.

PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira had filed the petition, pleading that the BISP was initiated under a legal cover after the then parliament passed a law, Benazir Income Support Program Act 2010. He said the incumbent government illegally renamed BISP to Ehsaas Programme.

During the last hearing, Chief Justice Khan had observed that DAG Israr failed to assist the court properly.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2020