Pakistan's Supreme Court adjourns hearing over dissolution of National Assembly till tomorrow

Imran Khan. File Photo

As the political crisis turned into a constitutional crisis in the country, Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing over the dissolution of the National Assembly till Wednesday, local media reported.

The case was filed against the "unconstitutional act" of the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.

Speaker Suri had disallowed the vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday -- a move that the Opposition said was a blatant violation of the Constitution, Geo News reported.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel resumed hearing this afternoon.

During the hearing, CJP Bandial also directed NA speaker's counsel Naeem Bokhari to present the minutes of the crucial NA session held on March 31 to debate on the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, according to Geo News.

At the outset of the hearing, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani walked to the rostrum to present his arguments.

"This is a civilian coup. A stance was created through an alleged cable which is based on malafide intent," Geo News quoted the Senator as saying. Rabbani added that the no-confidence motion against the prime minister was tabled on March 28 but the NA session was adjourned.

"Deputy speaker's ruling is illegal [...] no-trust motion cannot be rejected without voting on it," Rabbani said. "Voting is mandatory within the given duration as per the Constitution".

PPP's counsel said that the no-trust motion cannot be rejected under the Constitution.

"It can be dismissed only when if those who submitted it take it back and the speaker can reject it only after voting is held on it," Rabbani said.

He also requested to form a judicial commission to probe into NA proceedings and asked for a stay on Sunday's assembly session case, Geo News reported.

"The court should consider the misuse of authority instead of the proceedings within the assembly and see whether the speaker can apply Article 5."

After Rabbani completed his arguments, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan presented his arguments before the court.

He narrated the NA's proceedings since the session of March 28 when leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif was allowed to table the no-trust resolution against Imran Khan till April 3, the day fixed for voting on the motion, the Pakistani newspaper reported.

Khan said that a debate had to be held on the no-trust motion on March 31's session under Rule 37 but it didn't happen.

He asked if Suri, as the deputy speaker, had the authority to dismiss the resolution in this way. "The entire case is based on the question whether the deputy speaker can give such a ruling," he added, according to Geo News.

After Pakistani President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly after the deputy speaker rejected the no-trust vote against the PM, the political turmoil turned into a constitutional crisis.

CJP Bandial had taken a suo motu notice of the constitutional crisis that erupted after the incident.

"Any orders and actions that Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly shall be subject to the order of this court," CJP Bandial had said taking the notice on Sunday.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.