SC dismisses plea to stop PTI's long march

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking to stop Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan’s long march, terming the petition infructuous.

A three-member bench of the SC headed by CJP Justice Umar Ata Bandial— including Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Ayesha Malik, heard the plea moved by JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza seeking to stop the PTI long march.

At the outset of the hearing, Murtaza said it’s been two weeks since Khan’s long march kicked off after which the everyday life of people has been disrupted.

PTI reserves its right to hold a long march, but in no way is it allowed to disturb a commoner’s life.

To this, CJP Umar Ata Bandial remarked, the court’s interference on the issue would be premature.

Justice Minallah terming the matter related to the executive [government], asked Kamran Murtaza to approach them. “In unusual circumstances, the court could intervene.”

“When the administration has the authority to control the long march, why should the courts intervene?” he remarked.

In his remarks, CJP Bandial told Murtaza that he had cited the violations of the previous long march and asked the court to intervene in the matter. “But the long march is a political issue, there is a political solution to it as well.”

He told the petitioner that when the judiciary gets involved in political matters, it creates a “difficult situation” for the court.

The SC top judge said the court will intervene in the matter if there is any constitutional violation. Later, Kamran Murtaza’s plea was declared infructuous.