Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial has stated that the court needed to hear all the sides to deliver a fair verdict, and has adjourned till tomorrow the hearing on the recent political situation after consulting with the judges on the bench.
During the hearing, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said that it was not possible to hear the case and deliver the verdict in a single day. He said that this was an important constitutional matter which required careful decisions.
Justice Bandial observed that it was not possible to deliver a verdict without hearing all the concerned parties and said that the case hearing would resume tomorrow.
The five-member larger bench started the hearing of the suo motu notice taken by CJ Umar Ata Bandial after the proceeding of the National Assembly on Sunday wherein the National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The bench was headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial included Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel. Justice Muneeb Akhtar stated during the proceedings that a speaker could reject a resolution as per the assembly rules.
The constitutional crisis started in the country when on Sunday the deputy speaker ruled the no-trust motion against PM Khan as unconstitutional. Pakistan People’s Party counsel Farooq H Naek also requested to form a full bench to which the court responded that the bench would wrap up if Naek said that he didn’t have confidence in anyone.
“Looking into the constitutional questions is the court’s job. You tell […] what is the basis of your case,” said the chief justice.
“The full-court bench held 66 hearings on a case for two years. 12 thousand cases piled up due to full-court bench [hearings],” the top judge remarked.
“Any orders and actions that Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly shall be subject to the order of this court,” said CJ Bandial.
