SC summons Qasim Suri in election rigging case

The Supreme Court (SC) summoned former deputy speaker of the National Assembly and PTI leader Qasim Suri on Tuesday in person next month, as well as sought a report from the apex court registrar over a plea accusing the former of rigging 2018 elections.

Taking exception to the case not being listed for five years while Suri enjoyed the perks and position of a deputy NA speaker, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa questioned why the court should not take serious action for treason against the former deputy speaker of the National Assembly and PTI leader in the disqualification case.

A three-member bench of the apex court, presided by CJP Isa, heard the alleged election rigging case against Suri and also instructed him to submit a written response by the next hearing. 

The court also sought an answer from the registrar's office in this regard.

The counsel representing Balochistan National Party (BNP) leader Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani contended that Suri took over the post of deputy speaker 'illegally' as he used a previous stay order to his advantage. He urged the court to withdraw all perks and benefits to which Suri is entitled. 

The CJP remarked that Suri was involved in causing the current constitutional crisis in the country and hinted towards taking action against the PTI lawmaker. 

Lawyer Naeem Bukhari stated that Suri's cases were merged with other cases by the court.

“After taking the stay order, the case was not allowed to be scheduled for hearing and the internal system of the Supreme Court was manipulated. I have been a lawyer since 1982. Why was the case not fixed for such a long time? When the assembly was dissolved, was he still using the stay order to his benefit?”

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Suri's counsel, Bukhari, replied that he was still bound by the stay order at the time. He further added that in his opinion, the lawmaker's disqualification and re-election have now become 'ineffective'.

The chief justice then asked if the same tactic was used to avoid filing a case in the apex court. Stating that if indiscrepancies such as this come to the forefront, the court might have to 'look' at the entire election process of 2018. He then asked Bukhari when Suri resigned from his position. 

“Qasim Suri resigned on April 16, 2022,” replied Bukhari.

“Suri dissolved the assembly illegally, in the decision of the five-member bench, a case of high treason was recommended under Article 6, shall we not commence a treason trial against Suri? Action should be taken, whoever violates the Constitution will have to face the consequences,” said CJP Isa.

The court, while issuing a notice to the registrar for not fixing the case, also sought a report within three weeks.

Suri was accused of rigging the election in NA-265 deuring the 2018 polls and Raisani had challenged Suri’s victory with a petition seeking investigation.

The election tribunal had declared the election null and void and called for re-election, following which, Suri challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.

Later, the then-CJP Umar Atta Bandial rejected the decision of the tribunal and restored Suri to the post of deputy speaker and issued an injunction against the re-election.​