Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial has declared that the court wanted to wrap up the case by Wednesday (today) and they will try to deliver a verdict the same.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court of Pakistan adjourned the hearing of the case until 11:30 am on Wednesday (tomorrow.<\/p>\n
The five member bench under the chair of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial also comprised of Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court sought National Assembly deputy speaker\u2019s March 31
\norder and the minutes of the government meetings held on March 31 and
\nApril 3 while maintaining that not holding voting on the no-trust motion
\nwas not a procedural mistake rather it was a violation of the
\nConstitution.<\/p>\n
During the hearing of court\u2019s suo motu notice regarding the political
\nsituation in the country following deputy speaker\u2019s rejection of
\nno-confidence motion on Tuesday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar
\nAta Bandial summoned the March 31 order of the deputy speaker and
\nminutes of the March 31 and April 3 meetings.<\/p>\n
The CJP remarked that the rules permit tabling of the no-confidence
\nmotion. \u201cThe Constitution cannot be made ineffective through the rules,\u201d
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
Justice Umar Ata Bandial, however, declared that the court wanted to
\nwrap up the case by today (Wednesday) and they will try to announce a
\nverdict.<\/p>\n
A five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice
\nUmer Atta Bandial was hearing the case in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Justice Muneeb Akhtar said that in accordance with the Constitution it
\nwas mandatory to hold voting on a no-trust motion within seven days.
\nJustice Muneeb asked how can the court interfere in the National
\nAssembly\u2019s proceedings?<\/p>\n
Justice Jamal Khan remarked that not holding voting on the no-trust
\nmotion was not a procedural mistake rather it was a violation of the
\nConstitution.<\/p>\n
PML-N\u2019s counsel informed the court that if there was a solid reason for
\ndeferring the voting beyond the limited period then Article 254 provides
\nprotection. \u201cVoting on eighth day will not negate the Constitution,\u201d he
\ndeclared.<\/p>\n
Senator Raza Rabbani, representing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), told
\nthe Supreme Court that a prime minister could not dissolve the assembly
\nafter a no-confidence motion had been submitted against him.<\/p>\n
He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan did not enjoy majority of MNAs\u2019
\nsupport on the day voting on the motion was due to take place, but could
\nnot take place due to the deputy speaker\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n
The PPP\u2019s lawyer went on to add that the National Assembly could not be
\ndissolved until and unless fate of the no-trust motion was decided.
\n\u201cPrime Minister himself had said that the \u2018establishment\u2019 had offered
\nhim three options,\u201d Senator Rabbani said, and prayed to the court to
\norder voting on the motion.<\/p>\n
The PPP\u2019s counsel said that he wanted to complete his arguments in the
\ncase today so that the court could gave a \u2018brief order\u2019 today.<\/p>\n
Justice Umar Ata Bandial replied that the bench also wanted early
\nconclusion of the hearing, but would give its verdict only after
\nlistening to all the parties concerned.<\/p>\n
Senator Rabbani said it was now for the court to see to what extent the
\nparliamentary proceedings were exempted from court\u2019s scrutiny. \u201cWhat had
\nhappened on that day could only be described as a \u2018civilian martial
\nlaw\u2019,\u201d he opined.<\/p>\n
The PPP\u2019s lawyer said that the National Assembly, in its session dated
\nMarch 28, 2022, had given a green signal to voting on the no-confidence
\nmotion on April 3.<\/p>\n
Raza Rabbani said this is a civilian coup. \u201cA stance was created through
\nan alleged cable which is based on mala fide intent,\u201d he said, adding
\nthe no-confidence motion against the prime minister was tabled on March
\n28 but the NA session was adjourned.<\/p>\n
He maintained that Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri gave the ruling without
\nputting the documents before the parliament on Sunday. He argued that
\nRule 28 says the deputy speaker cannot give a ruling even if he has the
\nauthority. “Deputy Speaker\u2019s ruling is illegal and no-trust motion
\ncannot be rejected without voting on it,” Raza Rabbani stressed.<\/p>\n
The PPP\u2019s counsel further stated that the deputy speaker\u2019s ruling
\ndoesn\u2019t have constitutional protections under Article 69.<\/p>\n
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel said the issue on hand was whether the
\ndeputy speaker\u2019s ruling was constitutional or unconstitutional. He
\nremarked that now the question was whether the SC could judge the
\nlegality of the deputy speaker\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n
Makhdoom Ali Khan, representing PML-N in the case, insisted that the
\nruling was \u2018unconstitutional\u2019 and that the apex court could give its
\nverdict on its validity.<\/p>\n
Justice Muneeb Akhtar said that 20 percent of the total strength of MNAs
\nshould be present in the assembly for approving tabling of the no-trust
\nmotion. \u201cBut what will happen if 20 percent of the MNAs support tabling
\nof the motion while the remaining 80 percent oppose it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
CJP Umar Ata Bandial said that the constitution could not be rendered
\nineffective through rules, which permitted tabling of the motion. \u201cYour
\nargument is that the deputy speaker\u2019s act of throwing out the motion
\nwent against the majority of legislators\u2019 consent,\u201d Bandial asked
\nPML-N\u2019s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan, who replied that an individual could
\nnot sideline the majority opinion of the House.<\/p>\n
Makhdoom further said that the government had claimed that there was a
\nforeign conspiracy behind the opposition parties\u2019 no-trust motion.
\n\u201cThere is also a mention of a letter, which the government says is from
\na superpower and has threatening contents,\u201d he said, and added, \u201cIf the
\ncourt desires, it can summon secret agencies\u2019 officials for a briefing.
\nBut since the court has restricted itself only to the constitutional
\nmatters, I will prefer not to speak on the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
CJP Bandial remarked that so far the SC had not given any order to the
\nPunjab government.<\/p>\n
Advocate General Punjab (AGP) prayed to the court to order an inquiry
\ninto the political crisis of Punjab since PTI MPAs had been held hostage
\nby the opposition parties at a hotel in Lahore. \u201cMockery of democracy
\nhas been made in Punjab,\u201d he regretted.<\/p>\n
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel asked him not to drag the court into other
\nmatters.<\/p>\n
The CJP told the AGP that the bench would listen to his arguments
\ntomorrow. He stressed the need that the election of Punjab chief
\nminister should be held as per the constitution.<\/p>\n
The AGP replied that Usman Buzdar would continue to serve as the
\nprovincial chief minister until the election of his successor.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the occasion, another PML-N\u2019s lawyer Azam Nazir Tarar said
\nthat the Punjab government was trying to prevent voting by suspending
\nthe membership of 40 MPAs. This infuriated AGP who retorted, \u201cYou are
\nlying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AGP said this was his was his life\u2019s most important but last case as
\nAGP. The CJP adjourned the case until 11:30 am on Wednesday (tomorrow),
\nsaying their will conduct the hearing for three and half hours tomorrow.<\/p>\n
He ordered all the counsels of the petitioners to submit their written
\narguments.<\/p>\n
The CJP said so far the court had heard from the counsels of the
\npetitioners and now it was turn of the government\u2019s lawyers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial has declared that the court wanted to wrap up the case by Wednesday (today) and they will try to deliver a verdict the same. The Supreme Court of Pakistan adjourned the hearing of the case until 11:30 am on Wednesday (tomorrow. The five member bench under the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[474,3629,5643],"class_list":{"0":"post-253124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-cjp","9":"tag-justice-umar-ata-bandial","10":"tag-verdict"},"yoast_head":"\n