Islamabad: Pakistan’s National Assembly Monday unanimously adopted a motion seeking the formation of a special committee to file a case against Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in the Supreme Judicial Council for his “misconduct and deviating from oath”, escalating the tension between the government and the top judiciary.
The motion – moved by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Dr Shazia Sobia – was unanimously adopted by the house, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Speaking in the National Assembly, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the time has come for Parliament to play its constitutional role in this situation.
Asif demanded the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe the judiciary’s undue support to former prime minister Imran Khan as well as sending a reference to the Supreme Judicial Council under Article 209 of the Constitution on the matter.
“In the 75-year history of the country’s judiciary, there had been incidents that have had a profound impact on the country, but recently a group in the judiciary started supporting a political group,” he said.
“The time has come for Parliament to send a reference of misconduct to the Supreme Judicial Council, under the authority and law given to it by the Constitution,” Asif added.
On the attacks on the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore, a Rangers post in Karachi, the Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and the PAF Base at Mianwali, he said that protection was being provided to those who desecrate the “memorials of martyrs.”
He said that Khan’s violent supporters on the direction of their leadership had attacked Jinnah house, which was a shameful act as the building was a national heritage of the country.
The development comes as the PML-N party’s Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Justice Bandial and blamed him for the “anarchy” and “crisis” in the country as she joined the ruling coalition’s sit-in outside the Supreme Court to protest some of the recent rulings which they said provided blanket relief to former prime minister Khan.
Khan was Friday granted bail by a three-member Supreme Court bench hsaded by Chief Justice Bandial after the National Accountability Bureau arrested him on charges of accepting millions of dollars worth of property in exchange for providing benefits to a real estate tycoon.
PTI