The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued its detailed judgement substantiating its short order passed earlier in the case, and at least one of the Lordships has said the actions warrant a robust response.
By Ahmer Kureishi
ISLAMABAD: Aftershocks from the fateful events of April 3, 2022 are still shaking our polity. Now the Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled in the matter at length: The Deputy Speaker’s ruling of that day violated Article 95(2) of the Constitution and attempted to interpret Article 5 of the Constitution without jurisdiction.
For these reasons, the ruling and the subsequent actions of the then Prime Minister and the President were unconstitutional, without lawful authority, and of no legal effect.
One judge has maintained that the actions in question sprang from “premeditation and deliberations in order to defeat the resolution of vote of no confidence while playing fraud on the Constitution”.
In his concurring judgement, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel found Khan and his coterie in violation of Article 5 of the Constitution, which mandates “obedience to the Constitution” – and laid down that there must be consequences for such blatant transgression of the Constitution and the law must take its course.
His Lordship, however, left it to parliamentarians to decide whether to leave open the doors for such unconstitutional acts or take suitable measures to stop such like mess in future.
The five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail had earlier declared the Deputy Speaker’s ruling unconstitutional and illegal in its short order dated April 7, 2022.
The court also put to rest Khan’s regime change conspiracy allegations, maintaining the allegations were vague and not backed by evidence, and questioning why Khan’s governmnet had not instituted an enquiry when it had the opportunity.
The ruling relates to the events of April 3, 2022, when Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri disallowed a vote on a resolution of no confidence tabled by the opposition parties against then Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Within minutes of the move, PM Khan went live on a TV channel to announce he had advised the President to dissolve the National Assembly. The announcement was followed promptly by a presidential decree by Dr Arif Alvi to dissolve National Assembly.
The judgement disposes of Suo Moto Case No.1 Of 2022 concerning ruling by the Deputy Speaker’s ruling and Constitution Petition Nos.3 to 7 of 2022, filed by Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), and others.
Embedded below is the full text of the judgement – widely being hailed as a signal victory for our democracy – followed by another embed presenting the concurring judgement by Justice Miankhel separately.
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