ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of the caseagainst the ruling of the National Assembly speaker till Thursday.
A five-member bench of the top court led by Chief Justice of PakistanJustice Umer Atta Bandial conducted the hearing of the case.
During the hearing, CJP Bandial remarked that the court wanted to knowabout the ‘foreign conspiracy’ against Prime Minister Imran Khan beforeissuing the decision.
The conspiracy needs to be reviewed by the court that was used to dismissthe motion against the premier, the judge said, ruling that the bench wouldalso look into whether the speaker had the authority to deviate from theagenda of the house.
The top judge asked when did the NSC meeting take place, and added that thecourt wanted to focus on facts in the case as the ruling was an action bythe Speaker.
The court then asked PTI counsel Babar Awan if a constitutional processcould be sidelined. Awan then mentioned that PM Khan was told in a briefingthat a foreign country was unhappy with him but if the no-confidence motionagainst him succeeded then everything would be fine.
CJP Bandial then mentioned that the ruling was based on allegations, notfindings, and asked if the speaker could issue a ruling without revealingthe facts. He added that the court needs to decide on the constitutionalityof this particular action.
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Justice Bandial also asked about the authority of the speaker. Can NAspeaker go beyond Article 95 to give a ruling that’s not part of theagenda, he asked.
The judge also remarked that constitutional orders are of paramountimportance to the rules of the National Assembly, saying the constitutionalright cannot be disregarded based on NA rules.
The larger bench observed that it wants the lawyers to complete theirarguments today so that the proceedings aren’t prolonged.
NA Speaker’s counsel Naeem Bukhari and the attorney general of Pakistanrequested the court to adjourn the case till tomorrow. Later, the benchadjourned the hearing until 9:30 am Thursday.
The development comes days after NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suriprorogued the NA session after rejecting the united opposition’sno-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan, calling it in contrast toArticle 5 of the Constitution.
