Asif accuses judiciary of double standards

Minister says judges shouldn’t ‘rewrite’ Constitution

ISLAMABAD:

 

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday raised questions over the alleged double standards of the judiciary.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Asif demanded the formation of a full court bench of the apex court to hear the ongoing suo motu proceedings in connection with the delay in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab elections.

He added that the judiciary should not rewrite Article 63-A of the Constitution, warning that if the situation did not change, the country could suffer an irreparable loss.

During the NA session presided over by Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani, the minister maintained that even though the suo motu case was being heard by nine judges, the whole nation was affected by court judgments.

He added that a full court bench should listen to the parties involved in the case and announce its verdict.

The minister pointed out that parliamentarians were accused of criticising some judges. He posed the question why only a few judges were criticised and not the others.

He asked the judiciary that while former top judges Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa were subjected to criticism, why was former chief justice Nasirul Mulk spared from it.

Asif maintained that when judges would “transgress” into the domain of parliamentarians, the latter were bound to raise questions. The minister raised the question that was it the correct decision to dissolve two provincial assemblies.
He added that it was not the job of the judges to rewrite the Constitution. “The judges rewrote Article 63 -A. The [constitutional crisis] we are facing is the direct result of that,” he maintained.

Criticising the Panamagate verdict, Asif claimed that a major “injustice” had been committed by ousting PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif from the post of the prime minister. He demanded that the SC full court bench should review the judgment of the Panamagate scandal as well as other cases.

In his opinion, that would make up for the wrongs the judiciary was responsible for in the last eight months.

Lashing out at PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan, the minister said his party’s Jail Bharo Tehreek (voluntarily presenting themselves for arrest) had miserably failed.

He maintained that PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi was already in tears despite spending only a day in jail. He added that in six months, even the lanter of the roof fell off, but the plaster on Imran’s leg was still intact.

The minister was critical of Imran for not appearing before courts. Referring to Imran, he said the courts repeatedly summoned their “Laadla” (beloved) but he was reluctant to do so.

“Our arrest warrants were issued immediately. We were sent on remand for 90 days. Nawaz and Maryam were imprisoned for several days. Nawaz appeared before the courts around 200 times in cases against him. Nobody acquired bail for this. On the other side, they [PTI leaders] are instantly granted bail,” he added.

The minister said the salary of an MNA was only Rs168,000 and some of them even arrived at the National Assembly from the Parliament Lodges on foot because they could not afford a lifestyle similar to that of the elite class.