Pakistan: Larger SC Bench To Take Up Legality Of Deputy Speaker’s Ruling
Islamabad, April 4: A larger bench of the Supreme Court in Pakistan will be taking up on Monday the legality of the current situation in the country following the dismissal of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan by National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and the subsequent dissolution of the NA by President Arif Alvi on the prime minister’s advice, Dawn reported.
The proceedings are expected to begin by 1pm on Monday.
On Sunday, the apex court had taken suo motu notice of the situation and after a brief hearing issued a written order in which the court said it would like to “examine whether such an action (dismissal of the no-trust motion on the basis of Article 5) is protected by the ouster (removal from the court’s jurisdiction) contained in Article 69 of the Constitution.”
Article 69 of the Constitution essentially restricts the court’s jurisdiction to exercise authority on a member or officer of parliament with respect to the functions of regulating parliamentary proceedings or conducting business. The court also ordered that all state functionaries and authorities — as well as political parties not to take any advantage of the current situation and stay strictly within the confines of the Constitution. The court also directed the interior and defence secretaries to brief it about the law and order situation in the country.
