ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government and its allied parties urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to constitute a full-court bench to hear the petition filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) leader Pervaiz Elahi, against Punjab chief minister’s election held on July 22nd.
“Our justice system is such that when a petition is filed, the people already know what bench will be constituted and the decision that will be given. We want all the judges of the apex court as a full court bench to hear the petition on the Punjab chief minister’s election.
This would defeat conspiracies against democracy. Currently, a three-member bench is hearing the case of the Punjab Chief Minister (CM)’s election,” the PML-N government and its allied parties expressed these views in a joint news conference at Prime Minister (PM)’s Office in Islamabad on Monday.
The PML-N Vice President, Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q) Secretary General Tariq Bashir Cheema, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Parliamentary leader of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Khalid Hussain Magsi, Usama Qadri of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Aimal Wali Khan of Awami National Party (ANP), and other ministers and political parties’ leaders were present on this occasion.
The PML-N vice president Maryam, pointed out that there were many respected judges appointed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and questioned why they were not involved in hearing the PML-N’s cases. She that “bench-fixing” is a crime similar to “match-fixing” and suo motu notice should be taken over it as she criticised a “specific” anti-PML-N bench being constituted for one-sided decisions.
She said, “Our justice system is such that when a petition is filed, people already know what bench will be constituted and the decision that will be given.”
The PML-N vice president gave several examples of the PML-N’s legal woes, claiming that the party’s leaders were being discriminated against. She claimed multiple instances of the PML-N’s legal struggles and the “discrimination” against it. While referring to Hamza Shehbaz, she said, “can you tell me a single day he was allowed to work in peace? He goes from the Parliament to the Court, and back and forth. What justice is this?”
“One or two judges, who have always been anti-PML-N and anti-government, they are repeatedly included in the bench,” she claimed.
Referring to the PTI’s petition against the chief minister’s July 22 election, Maryam said that the Supreme Court’s doors were opened late at night and the registrar gave “sufficient time” to the party to draft its appeal.
“This is not what happens in our justice system,” she said, adding that the PTI was given ample time to draft its petition by the registrar, while the common man is given months for the date of hearing.
She said that the court called the Punjab Assembly’s deputy speaker, and asked why it did not call former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri for violating the Constitution. She said, while referring to the Panama Papers case that Nawaz Sharif had been convicted on a “trivial issue” such as the residence permit (Iqama). She claimed Imran Khan is involved in many crimes including violation of the Constitution and the attack on the Parliament and the PTV.”Did any court take suo motu notice against Khan? Are the suo motus only for the PML-N and its allies?” she asked.
While endorsing the views of Maryam, PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that he does not expect justice from the current bench of the Supreme Court. He urged the Supreme Court to constitute a full bench for hearing the case of the Punjab chief minister’s election.
“Creating difficulties is not difficult at all,” the JUI-F leader said as he urged the judiciary not to push “this nation to a point where people rebel against institutions”.
He said that the institutions should introspect their roles and overcome their drawbacks as he stressed self-accountability.
PPP Chairman Bilawal said, “three people cannot decide the fate of this country. Three people cannot decide on whether this country will run on a democratic, elected or a selected system”.
“It is the question of our judiciary’s integrity. We want things to proceed in accordance with the Constitution and for institutions to remain neutral. We are not demanding that this is how matters should be decided. We are only saying that justice posits that a full court would hear the case.”
He went on to say that “some powers” were unable to digest that Pakistan was moving towards democracy and the people were making their own decisions.
“We did not let any conspiracy succeed in the past and we will not let it happen now. We want institutions to remain uncontroversial.”
The foreign minister said that everyone will accept the verdict when all the judges listen to the case.
Parliamentary leader of BAP Khalid Hussain Magsi suggested that all the stakeholders should call a grand Jirga to decide the future of the country as we have failed to put Pakistan on the right track.
He said that the election of the Punjab chief minister had resulted in uncertainty in the country. “As a consequence, the country has started resembling a tribal system where there is anarchy and the state functions without any destination,” he added.
Magsi endorsed the viewpoint of other government allies for making a full court bench of the Supreme Court for hearing of all related petitions. “All institutions working for the country should play their vital role for the development and progress of the state,” he concluded.
PML-Q leader Tariq Bashir Cheema also reiterated the demand for a full court bench, adding that a decision should be taken “for once and all times to come”.
Awami National Party’s Aimal Wali Khan, in an apparent criticism of the Supreme Court’s Saturday’s order on Mazari’s ruling, said: “If decisions have to be made in such a manner, there’s no need for a party president. The parliamentary leader can have all the powers”.
The ANP leader stressed that all institutions should work within their ambit as defined in the Constitution.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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