Govt demands CJP Bandial's resignation after NA resolution rejects SC's 'minority' verdict
Pakistan
Maryam Nawaz also wants CJP to resign
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – A day after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led federal government passed a resolution against the Supreme Court's (SC) verdict ordering elections in Punjab on May 14, the government on Friday demanded Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to resign as the top judge.
The Federal Minister on Information, Marriyum Aurangzeb, demanded the resignation of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in an aggressive press conference on Friday, claiming that the recent case was not about elections, but about bench fixing.
She also criticized the judiciary and labeled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan as a foreign agent, a thief, and a beloved of the courts.
Ms Aurangzeb argued that Justice Athar Minallah’s dissenting note was a question mark on court proceedings, and if court proceedings become controversial, how could the public accept its decisions?
She claimed that the petition was dismissed, and the bench could not have been formed on it.
She said the controversial bench was formed on the petition dismissed by majority judges, and Justice Minallah’s dissenting note states that the crisis was initiated with the suo motu notice.
The federal minister further criticized the judiciary, recalling previous judgments.
She argued that the court declared Imran Khan’s letter constitutional, while Chaudhry Shujaat’s letter was declared unconstitutional.
She claimed that this drama was established on the basis of a fake cipher and that the suo motu was taken from the case of the transfer of Lahore CCPO.
Ms Aurangzeb highlighted the contradiction in the Supreme Court’s verdict, saying that the court ordered elections in Punjab, whereas the rule of election in 90 days was not applied in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
She stated that political parties were not heard by the court, and one party’s (PTI) stance was heard repeatedly.
She questioned why other political parties were not heard and asked if the PTI was the only party to contest elections.
Marriyum Aurangzeb argued that today, the constitution and truth won over ‘Imran-daari,’ and the truthful judges exposed Imran’s facilitation.
She also claimed that after the decision of Justice Athar Minullah, the decision of the majority judges was completed, and it was the job of the election commission to hold elections.
“It has become clear that Imran Khan was being facilitated,” she said. “The parliament said that there should be no controversial bench. The four majority judges urged for a full court, today Justice Athar Minullah also said that a full court should have been formed.”
The federal minister said that the position of the chief justice had become controversial, and she demanded his resignation.
She argued that there were one and a half lakh pending cases in the courts, and the conspiratorial group (PTI) was saying that this was a matter of election. However, in actuality, this was a matter of interpretation of the constitution and of the chief justice.
She emphasized that no one could be allowed to play with the constitution, and the matter was about justice.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said that when a politician tries to fix the country, a conspiracy gets launched against him. She argued that the play should end now and stressed the need for elections across the country to take place at a single time.
In conclusion, the Federal Minister demanded the resignation of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and claimed that this demand was being made by the people of Pakistan today.
She argued that after the controversial decision, the chief justice should resign, as the case was over, and four judges had dismissed it.
She accused the chief justice of forming the bench and announcing the verdict all by himself and claimed the decision was not actionable, and the law did not permit its implementation.
During the press conference, the federal minister did not answer the question of reference against judges and ended the news conference abruptly.
Earlier, the National Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the three-member Supreme Court bench’s "minority" verdict regarding the Punjab elections and ensured Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet not to implement the decision.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Organizer demanded the resignation of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umer Ata Bandial.
In her tweet, she said that the CJP was giving verdict in favour of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by violating the constitution.
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 7, 2023
She added no chief justice had to face this kind of allegations in the past.
