ISLAMABAD: PML-N Vice President Mohtarma Maryam Nawaz on Monday slammed the Supreme Court of Pakistan and said that the impact of the Supreme Court’s verdicts stays for decades and intensifies over time.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad flanked by several leaders of the coalition government and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), including Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman, Maryam criticised the country’s justice system and said that whenever a petition is filed in a court of law, people already know which bench will be formed to hear that.
At the beginning of the press briefing, which was organised ahead of the Supreme Court Session to decide the ruling of the Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, Maryam said that a lot of people discouraged her from holding a press briefing right now as the government’s appeal regarding the formation of a full bench to hear Mazari’s case was under review at the top court.
On July 22, the much-awaited election for the chief minister of Punjab took a dramatic turn after PML-N’s candidate Hamza Shahbaz successfully retained the province’s top post, defeating Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi with three votes. Following the counting of votes, Mazari, citing Article 63(A) of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members. As a result, Hamza received 179 votes, while Elahi managed to bag 176 votes.
As a result, the PTI approached the SC against Mazari’s decision, terming it “unconstitutional and illegal.” The court, in turn, asked Mazari to issue a detailed response as to why he rejected the 10 votes of PML-Q members. A decision regarding the ruling will be made by the court today after considering Mazari’s response.
The PML-N president, while criticising the country’s judiciary, said that if the history of court decisions in Pakistan is reviewed, it would be a shocking revelation, adding that whenever institutions are subjected to insults, it is done from within and not by outside forces.
“One flawed ruling could blow up an entire case,” she said. “If the right decisions are made, then criticism would hold no value.”
Recalling past events, she said that as soon as Hamza Shahbaz was elected as the chief minister of Punjab, the PTI immediately approached the apex court.
“PTI members jumped the walls of the Supreme Court at nighttime and as a result, the doors of the court had to be opened at odd hours. The registrar rushed to the court, while a petition was not even prepared,” she said.
Questioning the impartiality of the justice system, she said that whenever a petition is filed in a court of law, people already know which bench will be formed to hear that.
“If decisions are to be made in a one-sided manner, then there is no need to hold a court hearing at all. The [court should] hand over Punjab to Imran Khan without any legal proceedings,” she said.
