Leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly and PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz filed a petition in the Lahore Court High against the transfer of the Punjab Inspector General and chief secretary.
Hamza Shehbaz moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the “unlawful” removal of Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan.
LHC Chief Justice Amir Bhatti has taken up the petition and will hear it on April 11.
In developments that happened late on Friday, the federal government decided to transfer the chief secretary and IGP after they allegedly refused to ‘sort out’ the PTI dissidents to stop them from voting for the opposition candidate in the Punjab Assembly (PA).
The provincial assembly has to elect the new leader of the house after Usman Buzdar resigned last month. PML-Q’s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and PML-N’s Hamza, who has secured the support of PTI’s dissident lawmakers — the Jahangir Khan Tarin and Aleem Khan groups — are expected to go head to head in the race to become the next chief minister.
In the petition Hamza named the Government of Punjab, chief secretary, and the IGP as respondents.
It stated that Buzdar’s resignation was accepted on April 1 and, since then, the powers he assumed are that of the caretaker chief minister.
“The postings and transfers of the officers such as Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Police of the province can only be made in consultation with the provincial government.
“It is also an admitted position that the provincial cabinet does not exist, therefore, essentially no provincial government exists. Hence such appointments/postings/transfers are without lawful authority,” Hamza argued.
Axe falls on Punjab SC, IGP
Sources told Dawn that both Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal and IGP Rao Sardar Ali Khan were summoned by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Friday.
The chief minister, flanked by PML-Q leaders, insisted that they should round up the PTI dissident MPAs and ensure that they should not vote for the opposition’s CM candidate.
The chief secretary and the IGP are said to have refused to indulge in the illegal activity and the PML-Q leaders demanded that they both be replaced.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had himself assured Parvez Elahi of all possible help needed ahead of his election as chief minister, during his one-on-one meeting a few days ago at the Governor House, Lahore.
Sources said the chief minister had moved two summaries for the prime minister to replace the chief secretary and the IGP. For the chief secretary’s replacement, the chief minister had given the names of former principal secretary Tahir Khurshid, Yousaf Bashir Khokhar and Planning and Development Board chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal.
Sumbal, however, immediately requested that his candidature might be withdrawn.
Similarly, the chief minister moved a summary for the appointment of a new IGP while giving a panel – Lahore CCPO Fayyaz Dev, former IG Islamabad Amir Zulfiqar Khan and former Punjab IGP Inam Ghani.
