Muristek
New Delhi, April 5
Pakistan's Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday continued hearing the case against the dismissal of the no-confidence motion by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri even as China, Russia and Turkey alleged there was a foreign conspiracy to cause political instability in the country for abstaining from a US-piloted United Nation resolution against Russia.
The court sought the record of proceedings in the National Assembly on the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan before adjourning the hearing till Wednesday.
During the second day of the hearing, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the court did not interfere in the matters of the state and foreign policy and only wanted to ascertain the constitutionality of the steps taken by the Deputy Speaker while dismissing the motion and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senator Raza Rabbani, in his arguments, said, "Whatever has happened can only be termed as civilian martial law." Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan argued the court could judicially review an "illegal and unconstitutional" move.
Counsel for Prime Minister Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Babar Awan and Ali Zafar for President Arif Alvi will argue before the court on Wednesday.
If Khan gets a favourable ruling, elections will take place within 90 days. If the court rules against the Deputy Speaker, Parliament will hold the no-trust vote against Khan.