CJ’s remarks draw flak from PM

PM questions top judge on constitution of benches, corruption allegations against member of superior judiciary

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday strongly criticised the remarks about lawmakers made by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial during a recent Supreme Court hearing on the postponement of polls.

During the hearing of the PTI’s petition against the ECP’s decision to postpone polls to the Punjab Assembly till October 8, conducted on March 31, the chief justice had made the following remarks: “Today, when you go to parliament, you find people addressing the parliament who were till yesterday in captivity, imprisoned, declared traitors. They are now talking over there, and being respected because they are representatives of the people.”

The remarks had come a day after a bill aimed at clipping powers of the chief justice and giving the right to appeal in all suo motu cases with retrospective effect sailed through the Senate without being sent to the relevant standing committee. The bill, titled the ‘Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023’, seeks to take away the discretionary powers of the CJP to take suo motu notice, form benches and allocate cases in an individual capacity.

Addressing the National Assembly session, the prime minister said that the Honourable Chief Justice had remarked that some people who have previously gone to jail are making speeches in the National Assembly today.

Shehbaz accused former prime minister Imran Khan and his collaborators of framing false cases against him and attempting to implicate him in those fabricated cases.

“Imran [Khan] Niazi had nothing else to do [during his time as prime minister]. He had only one objective, and he spent all his energy on trying to put the opposition leaders in jail. I was one of them. Imran Niazi sent me to jail not once, but twice. And he was prepared to send me to jail for a third time,” he said.

He said that the high court had granted him bail on merit the first time he was jailed. “This was during Imran Niazi’s tenure [as PM], and he had it challenged in the Supreme Court.”

He said that Imran’s friend, lawyer Naeem Bokhari, filed a petition in the apex court to dismiss his bail. “But then, after the court’s remarks [asking for justification to dismiss bail], Naeem Bokhari withdrew the petition and ran away.”

The second time, he said that a full bench of the LHC granted him bail again when Imran sent him to jail through “his nexus with the National Accountability Bureau”.

“It was four to one. That was also during Imran Niazi’s tenure, but he and his lackeys did not even try to challenge it in the Supreme Court like the first time.”

He said that each time he was released on merit and was now standing in the parliament by the grace of Allah. “My crime was that, [I was following] my party leader Nawaz Sharif and as leader of the then-opposition, we were countering the ill-devised policies of the PTI government and voiced our opposition. But Imran Niazi did not accept it. He considered us as a thorn in his way. He wanted to send us all to jail and continue playing the flute like Nero while Rome is set afire,” he said.

Questioning the chief justice’s remarks, the prime minister asked if it was a crime to be vindicated by the courts in false and baseless cases.

“Mr Speaker, the honourable chief justice said these words. So, is it a crime that after having fought my case in the high courts, they absolve me with a decision on merit? Is it a matter of pride and respect or of shame? Is it a mater of shame or of respect that today I am present in this House today with my head held high?” he asked.

“I want to ask the chief justice about the remarks that he made. Have we come here after being vindicated by the courts, or have we come here with dishonour and disrespect?”He stressed that, as elected members of Parliament, it was their right under the Constitution to express their views in Parliament.

The prime minister also noted serious allegations of corruption against certain members of the bench and questioned the message being sent to the whole country by including them on the bench.

“I want to ask the chief justice, that a judge facing serious corruption allegations, what kind of message do you want to give the nation and the world by sitting alongside him?”He emphasised that the law of equality must be applied to all and that double standards would not work.

The prime minister also said that the entire government coalition had expressed their lack of confidence on the current bench of the Supreme Court hearing the cases on the delay of elections in two provinces.

PM Shehbaz clarified that a meeting had taken place under his chairmanship in which leaders of coalition parties and their legal experts had decided to express their lack of confidence in the current bench. However, he emphasised that the word "boycott" was never used.

He said that the “complicated, contentious decision” by a bench of three judges was “contrary to all requirements of justice”. PM Shehbaz highlighted that Justice Ijazul Ahsan, another member of the bench, had recused himself from the case. He requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, to constitute a full court without the two judges, as it would be more acceptable to the nation.

“I hope the chief justice will realise that if he convenes the full court, minus the two judges who have already recused themselves, then their decision would be acceptable to the entire nation,” he said.

The prime minister also noted that the decision to remove judges from the bench would be against the norms of justice.

Prior to the prime minister's address, the law minister briefed the house about the proceedings in the apex court and reiterated that the coalition parties had already conveyed to the court to constitute a full court to hear the instant case.

 

With additional input from APP