Choose words carefully against judiciary, SCBA urges Imran

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Ahsan Bhoon has urged former prime minister Imran Khan to choose his words carefully while talking about the superior judiciary.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the SCBA president said that the mere presence of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah at the courts’ premises on last Saturday night created deterrence against any extra-constitutional step likely to be taken in the country.

“We pay great tribute to CJP Bandial for saving the Constitution,” the SCBA president said.

"We expect that Imran to be a well-behaved politician. His conversation should be of a former PM and not a disgruntled politician.”

Also read: Imran asks judiciary why courts opened at midnight

Regarding Imran’s query about opening of courts at midnight, Bhoon said that the process of no-confidence motion under Article 95 of the Constitution was being halted, which is a serious offence.

Meanwhile, one section within the PTI was unwilling that to target judiciary during public rallies.

Ultimately, “we have to approach courts for relief in any matter”. “We have no other choice,” a senior PTI lawyer said. He also said that the party leadership should be aware that a detailed judgment regarding the National Assembly deputy speaker was still awaited.

It is learnt that several PTI lawyers including Barrister Ali Zafar were against the issuance of the National Assembly speaker’s ruling in which the no-confidence motion against former PM Imran was rejected.

Even several PTI lawyers were questioning filing of a petition by party chief Imran, seeking lifetime disqualification of the disgruntled PTI lawmakers on account of defection under Article 63A of the Constitution.

Also read: ‘Conspiracy not mentioned’, demarche was given on ‘interference’, says DG ISPR about Lettergate

The constitutional petition was filed under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution through Dr Babar Awan.

Earlier, Awan had moved an application in the apex court requesting it to form a full court to hear the presidential reference, seeking interpretation and scope of Article 63A of the Constitution.

The court has delisted presidential reference case on account of the non-appointment of the new attorney general for Pakistan. It is learnt that deliberations were ongoing among PML-N’s legal minds for the appointment of the new AGP.

“We will also consult judiciary informally regarding the appointment of the new AGP,” a PML-N lawmaker said.