Deputy speaker's ruling: Appropriate order to be issued, says CJP

ISLAMABAD: A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court on Monday resumed hearing into a suo-moto notice over ruling from Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri against no-confidence motion with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial saying that they would issue an appropriate order on the matter, ARY NEWS reported.

Babar Awan appeared before the five-member bench and said that he was representing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and would like to read out a court order of 21 March 2022.

The chief justice while leading the proceedings said that they would issue an appropriate order on the matter today and will only look into the proceedings of the National Assembly.

“We will not be listening to any other matter today,” he said.

Meanwhile, Advocate Naeem Bokhari also appeared before the bench and said that he would represent the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

CJP rejects plea for full court bench 

Farooq H Naek, who was representing PPP, asked the court to form a full court bench to which the chief justice asked if he does not have any trust on the existing bench.  “Establishing a full court will affect other court proceedings,” the CJP responded.

To this Naek said that they have complete confidence on the bench.

The chief justice asked him to continue with his arguments saying that they would be assessing the legal and constitutional merits of whatever happened in the National Assembly.

During his arguments, the PPP counsel said that the speaker violated his mandate and pushed the country towards a constitutional crisis. When the CJP asked him to share the facts, he said that Fawad Chaudhry made a speech over a letter received from abroad, which was first pointed out by Imran Khan in his speech on March 27.

He argued that it was why the April 3 was chosen for the voting day and even on the day, the speaker did not allow debate on the matter even when the entire day was left for the matter.

The Supreme Court has formed a five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan for the suo moto hearing over the deputy speaker’s ruling over the no-trust motion in the National Assembly.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel are other members of the bench.

Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan earlier said that whatever decision is given by the Supreme Court of Pakistan with regard to a ruling by Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri against no-trust move will be implemented.

During an argument with Justice Munib Akhtar, Farooq Naek said that there should be a debate when a question arises in the National Assembly to which the judge said that it could be a procedural mistake.

Naek, however, said that it was not a procedural matter.

Justice Munib Akhtar further remarked that it is his personal opinion that it is the prerogative of the speaker to give ruling and none other than him and the deputy speaker is only bound to run affairs as per the rules.