ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has issued a detailed judgement explaining the reasons behind its decision to set aside a controversial ruling by the National Assembly speaker on April 3 that dismissed the no-confidence motion against then prime minister Imran Khan.
In the verdict authored by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the top judge stated that by dismissing the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, Mr Suri prima facie breached his constitutional duty. Justice Bandial said the April 3 ruling failed to qualify for protection of the internal proceedings of parliament under Article 69(1) as it was “not the outcome of a vote in the national assembly instead, it was a unilateral decision”.
Justice Bandial observed that the controversial action by the deputy speaker triggered a chain of events, the most concerning aspect of which was that it allowed the then PM to claim the constitutionally repugnant outcome of avoiding the no-trust motion without a vote by the assembly.
The court’s foremost priority was the maintenance of constitutional order which could only be achieved if the assembly was restored, Justice Bandial added.
