Supreme Court grants bail to MNA Ali Wazir<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nHere are the main developments of the hearing:<\/p>\n
CJP Bandial remarks party head will have to listen to the parliamentary party\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n
CJP says full bench is formed only in serious matters and that currently only two more judges are available<\/p>\n
Justice Ahsan says parliamentary party decides who to vote for in the assembly.<\/p>\n
Justice Ahsan observes deputy speaker exceeded court\u2019s interpretation in his ruling.<\/p>\n
Court says facts in re-election case different from case on dissident MPAs.<\/p>\n
PTI lawyer contends judicial interpretation of Article 63-A was clear and unambiguous.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrustee\u201d Punjab CM Hamza Shehbaz requests court to constitute a full bench to hear Elahi\u2019s petition, clubbed with the review of SC\u2019s interpretation of Article 63-A.<\/p>\n
The court twice took breaks during the hearing to deliberate, with the CJP. When the hearing resumed after the first break, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar drew the court\u2019s attention on the fact that Article 63-A\u2019s review had still not begun. \u201cThis is a grave matter. This is a province of 12 million [people].\u201d<\/p>\n
The chief justice reminded the law minister that it was a five-member bench that had \u201csent the [previous] prime minister home\u201d, referring to the court\u2019s unanimous verdict in March that had restored the National Assembly as well as the no-trust move against Imran Khan, which eventually led to his ouster.<\/p>\n
With the federal government, in its statements outside the court, threatening to boycott the case if a full bench was not formed, the chief justice said: \u201cIf the incumbent government is not accepting the Supreme Court\u2019s [supremacy] then it is a grave [concern].\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister said that forming a full court would increase the judicial credibility of the court.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari\u2019s lawyer Irfan Qadir referred to Justice Qazi Faez Isa\u2019s case, which he said was heard by 10 judges. \u201cThat was the matter of a judge. This is the matter of an entire province.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not saying that the [bench\u2019s] neutrality is in question,\u201d he clarified, adding that if a full court was constituted, \u201cthe respect and confidence in court\u201d would increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an impression that [certain] cases go to the same bench,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cA full court bench is constituted in serious matters,\u201d the top judge replied.<\/p>\n
At one point, the CJP remarked that there was no need to prolong the case. \u201cIn our view, the deputy speaker has violated Article 95.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mazari\u2019s lawyer argued that the Supreme Court Bar Association\u2019s (SCBA) petition on Article 63-A\u2019s review could not be separated from the re-election case.<\/p>\n
He reasoned that if the court ruled that the votes of dissidents lawmakers would be counted, the matter would get even worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong with the politicians, the judiciary should also be united in its decisions,\u201d he pointed out, clarifying that he was not critiquing the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will all leave but the Constitution should remain supreme,\u201d the lawyer added.<\/p>\n
The deputy speaker\u2019s counsel said there was a difference between the head of the party and the head of the parliamentary party.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe party that wanted to make Parvez Elahi the chief minister used to call him a dacoit,\u201d he said while referring to PTI Chairman Imran Khan\u2019s remark about Elahi from years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an impression that the court was tilted towards those who broke the Constitution and pushed the country towards destruction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At this, the chief justice remarked that \u201csocial media only listens to narratives, not facts\u201d. \u201cWe gave a chance to all the parties in this case to make their arguments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In this case, he said, \u201cwe just have to see if the party leader can overrule the decision of the parliamentary party.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parliamentary party represents the common man in the assembly,\u201d he observed, noting that the 18th Amendment had given powers to the parliamentary party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to strengthen the democracy and parliament, and not individuals,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
PPP\u2019s counsel Naek interjected that it was also to be seen if the matters of the parliament could be taken to court.<\/p>\n
The CJP replied: \u201cWhen the Constitution is broken in the parliament, matters will come to the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
At one point, Justice Ahsan remarked: \u201cThe only question is that if the deputy speaker misinterpreted our decision, we will have to correct him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naek reiterated that the court should not intervene in the matters of the parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is good for the goose is good for the gander too.\u201d the judge replied, adding that the court had a legal question in front of it.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, PML-Q lawyer Salahuddin took the rostrum and said: that in his opinion \u201cinstructions to the parliamentary party are given by the party head,\u201d as he also urged the formation of a full court bench.<\/p>\n
Justice Akhter said that every member of the parliamentary party was important, emphasising that the party should not be under the \u201cdictatorship of its head\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecision are taken with the consultation of the parliamentary party,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
The PML-Q counsel said the decision on the vote belonged to the party head and the party, insisting that the court should benefit from the insight of the full court.<\/p>\n
Here, Justice Akhtar interjected and asked the lawyer why he kept bringing up the matter of the full court.<\/p>\n
Full bench not possible before September: CJP<\/p>\n
At one point, Justice Bandial remarked that the full court court could only be constituted in September. \u201cShould we stop everything until then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t abandon the most important matter of the state. We can\u2019t leave the matters of the Constitution and the public interest hanging [in the middle],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The chief justice said that every citizen, and even the court, was worried about the economic situation. \u201cIs this state of the economy because of the court or because of instability?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the one who took more votes is out and the one who took less is the chief minister. Retaining Hamza Shehbaz would require a solid foundation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The chief justice said he wished to dispose off the case quickly and that the court only had two more judges available at the moment.<\/p>\n
Salahuddin suggested that judges could hear the cases through video link.<\/p>\n
The CJP said the court had mediated even before the CM elections, adding: \u201cwe had retained Hamza Shehbaz till by-elections and he played an excellent role during the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the result of the chief minister\u2019s election should be respected,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
Salahuddin said the people were already aware of both the Sharifs\u2019 and Chaudhrys\u2019 governance and \u201cno sky would fall\u201d if either were in power.<\/p>\n
However, he said, if the public perception was formed that only a select few judges deal with important political matters then that would \u201ccertainly be akin to a sky falling\u201d. He again prayed for the formation of a full bench.<\/p>\n
At this point, the court took another break.<\/p>\n
\u2018Party head also has to listen to parliamentary party\u2019s opinion\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier in the hearing, the chief justice had remarked that the party head \u201cwill also have to listen to the parliamentary party\u2019s opinion\u201d.<\/p>\n
There was a flurry of activity even before today\u2019s hearing began as the coalition government reiterated its demand for the formation of a full court bench to hear cases related to hear the case related to the Punjab chief minister\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
At the same time, an Islamabad police official said only leaders of respondent parties would be allowed to enter the court premises with the permission of the SC administration.<\/p>\n
He added that lists of leaders had been provided by political parties in this regard. \u201cNo rally, procession or gathering will be allowed in the Red Zone, including around the Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n
After hearing arguments on the constitution of a full bench from the counsels of the deputy speaker, Hamza, PML-Q and PTI, the court adjourned the hearing for 1.5 hours so the judges could deliberate on the matter.<\/p>\n
Former SCBA chief asks for full bench<\/p>\n
At the outset of the hearing, the bench called former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Latif Afridi to the rostrum.<\/p>\n
The chief justice observed that several former SCBA presidents were present in the courtroom. The ongoing case was directly related to the SC\u2019s interpretation of Article 63-A, he remarked.<\/p>\n
Afridi said the country\u2019s current political situation was \u201cvery complicated\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur former presidents held a meeting. The SCBA\u2019s petition for review [of the Article 63-A interpretation] is pending adjudication,\u201d he informed the court.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Afridi pointed out that cases challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan\u2019s (ECP) decision to de-seat lawmakers over defection were also being heard.<\/p>\n
A full-court bench should be formed to avoid a constitutional crisis, he requested the court. \u201cThe crises are deepening. The entire system is at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n
He requested the SC to form a full-court bench to hear all the cases together.<\/p>\n
The deputy speaker\u2019s lawyer, Irfan Qadir, also requested the court to constitute a full bench. At this, the CJP asked him the grounds on which a full court bench should be constituted.<\/p>\n
Qadir requested the bench to read paragraphs one and two of its decision on the presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A, stating that everything would then be clarified.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t here to fight,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the coalition government\u2019s request to form a full court bench on petitions related to the recently held Punjab chief minister\u2019s re-election \u2014 including a review of its interpretation of Article 63-A. The short order was announced after a marathon hearing that began at 1pm and lasted more than eight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2],"tags":[2730,2685,5182],"class_list":["post-9496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-pakistan","tag-cjp","tag-hamza-shehbaz","tag-supreme-court-bar-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}