Hearing a plea against anti-government marchers, a five-member larger bench of Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk on Wednesday sought by Thursday (today) suggestions from all parliamentary parties for a judicial way out of the ongoing political impasse. The bench asked Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Salman Aslam Butt to submit details pertaining to losses to national kitty, public property, fatalities, and expenditure incurred to maintain law and order situation as a result of the two sit-ins.
The court also remarked that the government should proceed against those taking the law into their hands. On September 2, the Supreme Court issued notices to all parliamentary parties and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in response to a petition of Shafqat Bhatti, President High Court Bar Association Rawalpindi Bench, making all the parliamentary parties and PAT respondents. The petitioner had sought court's intervention to play its constitutional role to address the prevailing political unrest in the country.
From the outset of the hearing, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), requested the bench to pass an order to vacate the area from protesters, saying the Parliament is as sacred as the Supreme Court. However, Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk said the Speaker of the National Assembly has the power to pass an order in this regard.
Representing Awami National Party (ANP) and Balochistan National Party Awami (BNP-A), Raza Rabbani pleaded that the federation is under threat due to ongoing political crisis. The PTI and PAT protesters are demanding the dissolution of all provincial assemblies, Rabbani said, and added that there is no implicit charge of rigging in provincial assemblies' elections.
Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa observed that the court should try to get to the root cause of ongoing protests saying, "election rigging is a very serious allegation levelled by a political party that secured 7.6 million votes in the last general elections". Rabbani suggested that the apex court should ask Parliament for framing an appropriate legislation to constitute a judicial body to probe the alleged rigging.
Chairman Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rasheed contended that containers in the federal capital have added to the problems faced by the public and maintained that the protest is against vote rigging in the 2013 elections. Sheikh assured the bench that he is ready to play a role towards vacating parliament's lawn as well as Pakistan Secretariat from the possession of protesters.
The Chief Justice observed that as long as protesters were on Constitution Avenue there was no shelling or crackdown; he added that the court will summarise basic rights in the final verdict in the current matter. The Chief Justice asked the AML chief whether it is not the legal and moral responsibility of both protesting parties to seek permission from the federal government regarding their presence in Red Zone. He said that PTI chief Imran Khan got permission through a mobile message from Federal Interior Minister before protesters entered the Red Zone.
Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed that Federal Board of Revenue, Federal Shariat Court, Election Commission of Pakistan and other government institutions have not been functioning for the last seven days, adding that as many as 80 percent of cases have been adjourned in the Supreme Court due to the ongoing protests. Justice Nisar observed that the protesters advance towards the Prime Minister's House turned the situation ugly while Justice Jawwad S Khawaja asked whether protesters thought the court would acquiesce to anarchy in the country. Issuing directives to all the parliamentary parties to submit a written reply in the instant matter on September 4 in the apex court, the bench adjourned hearing of the case till September 5.
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