Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court sought Tuesday the record of the proceedings of the National Assembly conducted on the no-confidence motion filed against Prime Minister Imran Khan as it resumed hearing on the legality of the ruling by the deputy speaker blocking the no-trust vote. The Supreme Court had taken a suo motu cognizance of the current political situation in Pakistan.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial issued the directives. The top judge of the Supreme Court said it only wanted to ascertain the constitutionality of the steps taken by the deputy speaker for the dismissal of the no-confidence of motion and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly.
“Our sole focus is on the ruling of the deputy speaker… it is our priority to decide on that particular issue,” Chief Justice Bandial was quoted as saying by the ‘Express Tribune’ newspaper. The apex court wanted to see if the ruling of the deputy speaker could be reviewed by the bench, Bandial said. He added that the Supreme Court will merely decide on the legitimacy of the speaker’s action. “We will ask all parties to focus on this point,” the Chief Justice stated.
As the hearing resumed, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani and senior counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan presented their arguments before the court. Rabbani said that the court had to examine the extent of the ‘immunity’ of parliamentary proceedings. “Whatever has happened can only be termed as civilian martial law,” he said. Rabbani maintained that the speaker’s ruling was ‘illegal’, ‘Dawn’ news reported. “The no-confidence motion can’t be dismissed without voting on it,” he said, citing Article 95 of the Pakistan Constitution.
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Rabbani also said that a deliberate attempt was made to construct a narrative against the no-trust move while a foreign conspiracy was also touted.
PML-N’s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan said that the no-confidence motion was submitted to the NA with the signatures of 152 lawmakers while 161 had voted in favour of tabling it. “After that, proceedings were adjourned till March 31,” Ali Khan pointed out.
If Imran Khan gets a favourable ruling, elections will take place within 90 days. If the court rules against the deputy speaker, the parliament will reconvene and hold the no-confidence vote against Imran, experts said.
President Arif Alvi had dissolved the National Assembly (NA) on the advice of the prime minister. The decision was taken, minutes after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected a no-confidence motion against the premier, who had effectively lost the majority in the 342-member lower house of Parliament, Sunday.
Chief Justice Bandial had said that all orders and actions initiated by the prime minister and the president regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly will be subject to the court’s order.
The larger bench of the apex court – comprising Chief Justice Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail – took up the matter Monday after Suri rejected the move to dislodge the prime minister by declaring the no-trust motion unmaintainable due to its link with a so-called foreign conspiracy. President Alvi, the Supreme Court Bar Association and all political parties have been made respondents in the case.
