Parliament kept incomplete at will: CJP Bandial
Pakistan
'The court did not take suo-moto notice of the NAB amendments but the NAB brought it to the court'
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday remarked that all public issues could only be resolved in the parliament but the incumbent parliament was kept incomplete at will.
The five-member bench headed by the CJP heard Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s plea against amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.
Makhdoom Ali Khan represented the federal government in court. He argued that the PTI moved the courts after National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted the resignations of the PTI MNAs and now the matter was being debated in the court instead of parliament. “If the court annuls legislation on any plea seeking the annulment, it will lower the court’s dignity”, he added.
The CJP remarked that particulars were different in the present scenario as the plea was filed by no one else but the chairman of the country’s largest political party. “Might Mr Khan be inquired why he was contesting elections if he was not willing to sit in the parliament”, he remarked.
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Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan inquired whether the court could revoke someone’s right to a plea if they boycotted the assembly. “NAB amendments were instituted for the benefit of a few people only”, he remarked.
Mr Makhdoom argued that the statements rendered by Mr Khan and PTI MNAs on NAB were on record as the PTI-led government amended the NAB law after bringing an ordinance. The CJP remarked that the ordinance was temporary legislation but the recent amendments seemed permanent. “Having no majority in the assembly is also a cause for bringing an ordinance and the court is seeking a response to PTI’s absence from the house while the amendments were being debated”, he remarked.
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Justice Mansoor Ali Shah inquired how the ordinance was different from the new amendments. Mr Makhdoom argued that the ordinance brought by the PTI was amended in recent times, and the lower house could not debate the law due to the PTI's absence. “However, the law was debated in the Senate in the presence of the PTI members”, he added.
The CJP remarked that the court was not intended to halt the legislation. “The court did not take suo-moto notice of the amendments but the NAB brought the case to the court”, he remarked.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing till Friday.
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