Maryam Nawaz advises CJP Bandial to not follow Imran Khan

Why CJP only paid attention to Constitution-related issues when Imran brought them up, questions PML-N leader

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz advised the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday not to follow Imran Khan because he subsequently turned his back on those who were facilitating him.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters at a party gathering in Kasur, she said, “The courts are taking suo motu notice today on the remarks of this maniac [Imran]. With all due respect, I would want to advise you not to emulate Umar Ata Bandial. He has utilized all of his intermediaries before turning the tables on them.

If the CJP had punished Imran for violating the Constitution at the time of the no-confidence vote the situation in the country would not have become this much worse, Maryam Nawaz said.

She said that the country was wondering why a person who committed such a serious crime was let off the hook. The PML-N leader further questioned why the CJP only paid attention to Constitution-related issues when Imran brought them up.

Imran had allegedly previously been facilitated by a few judges, the PML-N Chief Organizer said. She also named former chief justices Saqib Nisar and Asif Khosa, claiming that their kids were in the visitor’s gallery on the day that Nawaz Sharif was found guilty in the Panama Papers case and were celebrating that the PML-N Supremo was about to be disqualified.

During the SC hearing on the postponement of elections in Punjab, she referred to remarks made earlier this week by CJP Bandial regarding lines for subsidized wheat and the cost of elections, saying: “There are long lines for wheat in the country but look closely […] there are longer lines of those seeking justice.”

“Don’t you have Rs20 billion for holding elections, it was also said? […] Chief Justice Sahab, [the government] only has Rs20 billion to hold elections, not the Rs60 billion needed to run one election three times,” PML-N leader said.

The statements directed at the CJP by the PML-N Chief Organizer have come as the country debates the scope and use of the CJP’s authority over suo motu notice.

The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which seeks to deny the CJP office the authority to take suo motu notice in a personal capacity, was passed by the National Assembly earlier today.