ISLAMABAD, Apr 4:
Pakistan’s Supreme Court today adjourned the hearing by a day but promised to give a “reasonable order” in the high-profile case about the rejection of a no-confidence motion by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the subsequent dissolution of Parliament.
A larger bench of the apex court – comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail – took up the matter after Deputy Speaker Qasim 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.
Minutes later, President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
President Alvi, the Supreme Court Bar Association and all political parties have been made respondents in the case.
Lawyers from the Government and opposition presented their argument regarding the ruling by the Deputy Speaker.
During the arguments, Chief Justice Bandial said that even if the Speaker of the National Assembly cites Article 5 of the Constitution, the no-confidence motion cannot be rejected, News reported.
If 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 Khan, experts said.
Chief Justice Bandial had earlier in the day said the court would issue a “reasonable order” today on the issue.
During the proceedings, Justice Ahsan noted that there were violations in the proceedings of the no-trust resolution, Dawn reported.
Justice Bandial observed that a debate before voting on the no-confidence motion had been clearly mentioned in the law but didn’t take place.
Meanwhile, Justice Akhtar expressed dubiousness over the deputy speaker’s constitutional authority to pass such a ruling, the paper said.
In my opinion, he said, only the speaker had the right to pass the ruling. “The deputy speaker chairs the session on the non-availability of the speaker.”
Justice Bandial also observed that the deputy speaker’s ruling mentioned the meeting of the parliamentary committee for security. “The opposition deliberately didn’t attend the meeting,” he said.
Farooq H Naek, who was representing the joint opposition, pleaded the court to issue a verdict on the matter today.
But Justice Ahsan said it was impossible to pass the verdict today, adding that the apex court’s decision will have far reaching outcomes.
“We can’t pass a decision in the air,” Justice Bandial said, adjourning the hearing till 12pm on Tuesday.
He also rejected the opposition’s plea for a full bench. (PTI)
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