Full court not formed to keep 'honest judges’ away: Maryam
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif addressing a public gathering in Sargodha. SCREENGRAB
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz has said that when decisions are not made in accordance with the law then there is a fear of a full court.
Her statement comes soon after the Supreme Court rejected the coalition government’s petition to constitute a full bench on contentious Punjab chief minister election on Monday.
Reacting to the verdict, Maryam said on her official Twitter handle that the apex court decided against including “honest judges” on the bench, because of the fear that flaws of their previous decisions would come to the fore.
She added that the people know that the apex court decision is not in line with the Constitution and the law “but it is based on personal likes and dislikes”.
“No matter what you do people have come to know,” she said.
In another tweet, she said at least she knew that the full court would not be formed and justice will not be served. “This is what I wanted to tell the nation!.”
The ruling party leader also claimed that the PML-Q’s leader attained a majority in the Punjab Assembly due to the apex court rulings. “You [court] took away our 20 votes and gave 10 votes to the PML-Q,” she added.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the ruling alliance had demanded the formation of the full court so that no controversy related to the apex court would arise and its decision would be final for all stakeholders.
“However, it is surprising that the three judges of the Supreme Court did not consider it appropriate that their fellow judges could participate in the hearing of this case,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.
Responding to Maryam’s statement, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said ‘trustee’ Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz should have resigned after “you accepted defeat in Punjab [by-elections] held earlier this month in which the PTI secured landslide victory against the ruling coalition.
“In a democracy, the people's decision is final. At the moment you and the PDM are acting like children who start crying and screaming when the pacifier is taken away. Instead of venting anger at the judiciary, review your decisions,” he added.
PTI leader Shahbaz Gill said by setting aside the government’s petition to form the full bench, the Supreme Court rejected the “intimidation and threats of the gangsters”.