ISLAMABAD: Omar Sarfraz Cheema has decided to challenge the notification of his removal as governor Punjab in the court.
According to sources, sacked Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema will soon submit the notification of removal of the Cabinet Division to the court for which he has completed consultation with constitutional experts.
Sources said that the petition filed by Omar Sarfraz Cheema is likely to be filed in the Islamabad High Court today.
Sources said that the issue of police deployment to prevent entry into the Governor House by Omar Sarfraz Cheema would also be taken up in the court.
It should be noted that PML-N has decided to make party leader Baligh-ur-Rehman the governor of Punjab.
Earlier, Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema ha said that he would be the governor for as long as the president wants.
The prime minister has no authority to remove the governor as the prime minister can appoint a new governor if there is no governor, he said.
President Arif Alvi earlier strongly rejected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s advice to remove Governor Punjab Omar Sarfaraz Cheema from office.
According to a statement from the President’s Secretariat, President Alvi has conveyed to the prime minister that the Punjab governor cannot be removed without his approval.
“Referring to clause 3 of Article 101 of the Constitution, he stated that ‘the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President’,” the statement read.
The Shahbaz-led government had last week sent a summary to the president for the removal of Cheema and nominated Baligh-ur-Rehman for the office of governor.
Incumbent Governor Cheema has been causing problems for the PML-N in Punjab ever since he was given the post by Imran Khan during his last days in power. The governor had triggered a constitutional crisis after he refused to administer the oath to Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz.
Hamza was finally sworn in after the Lahore High Court ordered NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to administer the oath to Hamza.
Cheema had last week said that he would arrest CM Punjab Hamza Shehbaz Sharif if provided “a subedar and four soldiers” and had also asked Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to play his “role” in the implementation of the Constitutional framework in Punjab.
