ISLAMABAD: Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail criticizing the role of state institutions in political affairs said instead of performing constitutional duties; they are involved in “political engineering”.

A three-judge bench comprising Justice Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan on Friday heard a murder case. The bench ordered the police to arrest murder suspect Ishaq and hand him over to jail authorities.

During the proceeding, Justice Minallah remarked; “This case has been pending in the Supreme Court since 2017, while the state is busy in toppling and forming governments”. All institutions are chasing political opponents. This situation would be different if the Constitution is implemented, he said.

Justice Mandokhail also expressed displeasure over the performance of the state institutions and questioned what happened to cases after three prime ministers were killed in the country. He also remarked that a senior-most judge was killed in Balochistan.

He noted that the major reason was the state institutions’ “unwillingness to do something”. “Compared to the other two provinces, the state of police prosecution is deplorable in Sindh and Punjab,” he observed.

Justice Mandokhail said that people lacked confidence in the institutions and expected everything to be done by the top court, adding that no one should expect any positive change until state institutions keep themselves engaged in political engineering.

Justice Minallah lamented that the admission of murder of a premier was made after 40 years, wondering what could be a bigger crime than this. He remarked that the court should have sentenced the responsible.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024