Pakistan court unable to hear all arguments on no-trust case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6

The Pakistan Supreme Court sought minutes of the National Security Council meeting to know more about the “foreign conspiracy” while adjourning the case about rejection of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan till Thursday.

On the third day of the hearing on Wednesday, Babar Awan appeared for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and Ali Zafar represented President Alvi.

Ominously for the government, the court asked Awan whether the Speaker could issue a ruling that was not on the day's agenda bypassing Article 95. “Where are the minutes of the NSC meeting? We want to see what the conspiracy was that was used to dismiss the motion,” asked Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, adding that the Bench would also examine whether the Speaker had the authority to deviate from the agenda of the House and rely on some other facts.

In his arguments, Zafar insisted that any direction from the court on the Deputy Speaker’s ruling would exceed its jurisdiction. Pakistan Peoples’ Party lawyer Raza Rabbani and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan have already completed arguments. But Naeem Bokhari, counsel of Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, and Attorney General Khaled Javed Khan, representing the government, are yet to present their views.

Though the Chief Justice asked the lawyers to quickly conclude their arguments, the process was not completed.

If Pakistan PM Imran Khan gets a favourable ruling, elections will take place within 90 days. If the court rules against the deputy speaker, Parliament will reconvene and hold the no-confidence vote.

The crisis began after the opposition submitted a no-confidence motion against Khan on March 8. Though voting was scheduled to be held on April 3, the Deputy Speaker rejected the motion, saying it was part of a “conspiracy'' to topple an elected government.

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