CJP should be summoned for seeking parliament’s record: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Former premier and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has demanded to summon the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for seeking the parliament’s record, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly (NA), said that the Supreme Court (SC) had earlier sought records of the parliament in 1997. “The then NA speaker Elahi Bux Soomro had handed over the parliament’s record to the SC without asking anyone.”

The former premier asked the NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to seek the opinion of the House over the matter of SC’s request for the parliament’s records. “SC’s request for the parliament’s record is a serious issue and this House must decide on whether to hand over the records to the top court or not.”

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He further demanded the NA speaker constitute a special committee over the top court’s request and SC judges should be summoned to ascertain the reasons. “The SC’s request should be taken seriously. It is a serious matter if these records are sought in the PAC [Public Accounts Committee].”

Abbasi reiterated that it is a sensitive matter for the survival of the House which should be overlooked carefully. “CJP should be summoned to know the reasons for summoning the records.”

SC seeks NA records

Yesterday, Supreme Court (SC) Registrar Ishrat Ali sought the record of five National Assembly (NA) sessions.

Last month, Speaker NA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf wrote a letter to the CJP showing the sentiments of the lawmakers on the legislation of the SC bill.

As per details, the SC registrar’s office has sought the records of NA sessions held on April 6, 10, 17, 26 and 27. The minutes of the NA standing committee on Finance have also been sought by the SC office.

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Earlier, the NA speaker’s office reportedly refused to provide the record on verbal orders but despite written orders, the said record has not been given to the SC registrar’s office.

PAC summons SC Registrar

The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has once again summoned Supreme Court’s (SC) registrar on May 16 as it decided to conduct an audit of the apex court from 2010-2021.

In the meeting on Wednesday, PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan stated that the committee had decided to conduct an audit of the Supreme Court (SC) from 2010-11 to 2020-21.

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During the meeting, Noor Alam Khan also warned of issuing arrest warrants if the registrar failed to appear before the committee. In response to a question, Khan assured that he will summon the registrar again if the court orders a stay on the warrants.

The PAC chairman asked the auditor general to present a comparative observation report on the salaries and privileges received by the president, prime minister, federal ministers, members of parliament, and chief justice.

Meanwhile, the committee has also sought records of £190 million from the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency.

This is not the first time that the PAC has attempted to look into the SC’s accounts. In April 2023, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) summoned the Supreme Court’s registrar for not conducting an audit of the court’s financial records.

Noor Alam Khan observed that the top court was not having its financial records audited for the past 10 years.

In March 2023, the PAC sought a record of the Supreme Court judges’ salary, perks and privileges within a month.