The Supreme Court May announce a verdict on petitions challenging the April 3 ruling by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri on the no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, adjourned the hearing with an observation that the petitioners convince the apex court as to how the deputy speaker’s ruling on the no-confidence motion against the premier was illegal.
During the crucial hearing, Justice Munib Akhtar had observed that the deputy speaker went beyond his jurisdiction by issuing the ruling under House rules.
According to media reports, the chief justice observed that “it seemed that the question of illegality in the filing of the no-trust motion could have been addressed earlier, but once the leave of the house was granted, then the stage of raising objections had passed”.
Observers, who closely monitor the SC proceedings, said that the apex court may hold the verdict for another day after PPP leader and Senator Raza Rabbani and senior counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan will present their arguments today.
On Tuesday, Farooq H Naek, who was representing the joint opposition, contended that on the day when voting on the no-confidence motion had to be taken place on April 3, allegations could not be raised against opposition members by invoking Article 5 of the Constitution. “The voting on no-confidence motion against the premier was different from the impeachment of the president, where the charge was announced first,” he had argued, according to media reports.
During the hearing, the chief justice expressed his astonishment over the opposition parliamentarians’ failure to attend the national security meeting where the issue of the alleged “threat letter” from a US diplomat was discussed.
Farooq H Naek also argued that the opposition members were unheard by the deputy speaker while issuing the ruling labelling all members as “conspirators”.
At this, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel asked when the April 3 session was fixed for a vote on the no-trust motion, could any other matter be discussed.
Observers said that the Supreme Court bench may indulge in further deliberations before announcing the verdict.
The PTI government has built the narrative that opposition parties conspired with a foreign hand to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government, which the opposition parties have vehemently denied.
Former PPP senator Farhatullah Babar said on twitter that “Let’s hope and pray the ground norm of the country is constitution, not the doctrine of necessity. The only necessity is Constitution and constitution alone. It alone can bind the citizen, the federating units and the federation”.
Political commentator Mosharraf Zaidi said on Twitter that ”Imran Khan and PTI are able to manufacture completely baseless assertions out of thin air and then market them more aggressively than any other political entity”.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said on Twitter that “We are looking to the Supreme Court for justice against the murder of the Constitution and Parliament. The (deputy) speaker’s ruling needs to be reversed if parliament has to have meaning. Our workers are celebrating that Khan has gone. We are still fighting for the parliament not to be hijacked”.
