Hearing a case concerning public gatherings of the opposition and the government in the federal capital ahead of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial Monday said parliamentarians should fight their ‘battles’ in the assembly.
A two-member bench of the apex court – headed by Chief Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar as member, gave this observation while hearing a plead of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) seeking the apex court’s intervention to prevent ‘anarchy’.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman and other opposition leaders were present in the court.
At the outset of hearing, the lawyer representing the SCBA said the NA speaker had summoned the assembly session on March 25 while it had to be convened within 14 days of submission of the no-trust motion under Article 95. “The court is not convinced on interfering in the NA’s affairs. It only wants that no one’s right to vote is affected,” CJP Bandial remarked during the hearing. Listening to the arguments by the SCBA counsel regarding delay in the voting on the no-confidence motion, which was filed on March 8, the CJP said, “These are the internal matters of the assembly,” adding that it would be better to fight these battles inside the assembly.
The petitioner’s lawyer highlighted that under Article 95, the speaker of the National Assembly had to summon a session within 14 days from the time when the no-confidence motion was filed. Regarding the voting on the no-confidence motion, the chief justice said the SCBA wanted the lawmakers to have the choice to vote for whoever they want. However, he said, the question was whether the personal choice of an MNA could differ from the party policy.
The SCBA’s lawyer argued that all the MNAs should have the right to vote freely. At this, Justice Muneeb Akhtar inquired about the article under which lawmakers could vote freely. Responding to the query, the SCBA’s lawyer said MNAs elect the speaker and other officials of the assembly under Article 91. “If someone is casting his/her vote, how someone can say that it is not their right to vote,” Justice Akhtar said, asking the SCBA on which article the body had based its case. “All of this is the assembly’s internal matter and it will be better that it is settled in the assembly. We do not want to go into details of this matter,” the CJP said as the SCBA sought to stop the gatherings.
Justice Bandial, asking the political parties what did they want the court to do in this matter, noted that the judiciary could only mediate in political matters for betterment of democracy. The court stated that party workers could not be brought to the capital to stop lawmakers from casting their vote during the session on the no-confidence motion. “Sit together and form a consensus […] choose a place other than D-Chowk,” the CJP advised the political parties.
Regarding the Sindh House incident, the IG Islamabad police told the court that the JUI-F workers also tried to go towards the Sindh House; however, they were stopped near Balochistan House. “We are ashamed of the incident,” he added.
Talking about the incident, Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan said orders had been issued to the police and authorities concerned to investigate the matter. The CJP reiterated that the real issue was stopping MNAs from voting, saying the case was heard on Saturday to urge everybody to act according to the Constitution. Meanwhile, the AGP added that the public will not be allowed to enter the Red Zone area during the assembly session. “We have full confidence in you,” the CJP said to AGP. The attorney general urged the government and the Opposition to express their disagreements politely.
