Arrest those who stormed Sindh House in 24 hours, orders SC
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the arrest of those who were involved in the attack on the Sindh House in Islamabad within 24 hours. A five-member larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the presidential reference for the interpretation of Article 63A.
Raising the issue of the attack on the Sindh House, the advocate general of Sindh said anti-terrorism provisions were not included in the First Information Report (FIR). However, the advocate general of Islamabad replied that terrorist provisions do not apply. CJ Bandial remarked, “Shall we start hearing on an FIR, now?
“It will take three days for the hearing at this point.” The chief justice said that the Sindh House should take legal action. “The Sindh government can approach the sessions court as it would be appropriate for the relevant forum to decide.”
Read: PTI's attack on Sindh House sign of 'fascist mentality', says Shehbaz
“Take action on the provisions applied in the case,” the CJ said, adding that the attackers obtained bail on “childish provisions”. “Are there any non-bailable provisions?” Advocate general Islamabad replied, “There is one non-bailable provision.” “Why weren't arrests made on the non-bailable provision?” the CJ inquired.
The advocate general suggested to call the Islamabad inspector general of police. The CJ replied, “Ask the IG to do his job, it is not our job to give instructions.” The court summoned a comprehensive report on the matter on Tuesday, while ordering arrest of the persons involved in the attack on the Sindh House.
On March 18, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers and workers stormed the Sindh House in Islamabad in protest against the dissident members of the ruling party, who were staying inside the building. The PTI legislators and workers forcibly entered the building located in the Red Zone of the federal capital just days before the voting on the joint opposition’s no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Read: PPP protests attack on Sindh House
The PTI National Assembly members (MNAs), Faheem Khan and Ataullah, along with a group of charged party workers entered the Sindh House, knocking down a gate and shouting slogans and holding Lotas (spouted globulars) in their hands to symbolise the turncoats. As a result, the workers who protested against the dissident party MNAs and stormed the Sindh House were released on personal assurance, on March 20.
The Islamabad Capital Territory police had registered an FIR against the PTI workers for violating Section 144 imposed in the capital and also included sections for vandalising the government property.
The workers were produced before the area magistrate, who granted them bail on personal assurance.
Talking to the media outside the Supreme Court, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry termed party discipline important in this system, saying that the interpretation of Article 63A was necessary for lifelong disqualification of turncoats to ensure a stable parliamentary system.
“If there are penalties on violators of party discipline, the unholy practice of sale and purchase of people's loyalties will end forever.” He said that the loyalties of PTI's elected members were bought and kept in the Sindh House, saluting those MNAs who turned down such offers and stood by Imran Khan.
He hoped that the Supreme Court in this reference would impose lifelong disqualification for the members involved in floor-crossing and it would give a ruling that their votes would not be counted.