*Pakistan SC Accuses Ruling Shehbaz Sharif Govt For ‘helping People Jump Court Gates’
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Pakistan Supreme Court chief justice Umar Ata Bandial has found himself in the crosshairs of the ruling coalition after granting relief to ousted prime minister Imran Khan last week.
Angry protesters belonging to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are brandishing posters saying “mother-in-law is not the law” to target the top judge over his alleged judicial favouritism.
Last week, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had lashed out at the Supreme Court’s decision to declare Khan’s arrest as invalid, saying that the top judiciary was showing partiality towards him.
“The court should behave as the mother of law and not as mother-in-law,” he said.
What’s the ‘mother-in-law’ connection?
Rehman’s “mother-in-law” jibe was made in reference to a recent audio clip of the mother-in-law of chief justice Bandial who is heard expressing her anxiety over Khan not getting relief from the courts.
The purported audio clip, which was leaked last month, was of a conversation between the Pakistani CJ, his mother-in-law Mahjabeen Noon and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Khawaja Tariq Rahim’s wife Rafia Tariq.
In the clip, Noon can be heard airing her concern for the chief justice, saying that she has been praying for him amid tensions between the judiciary and the government after Bandial ordered elections in Pakistan Punjab.
So without any investigation into who was responsible for arson on government building or dozens of deaths of unarmed protesters by bullet wounds , around 7000 PTI workers , leadership and our women have been jailed with plans to ban the largest and only federal party in Pak .… pic.twitter.com/7p8uiPaYhc
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 15, 2023
The trio were also heard wishing for snap elections, media reports said.
Noon’s apparent favouritism towards Imran Khan is now being used by the former PM’s detractors to attack the CJP.
Last week, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz had advised CJP Bandial to resign from his position and join the PTI, “just like his mother-in-law”, alleging that Noon is a part of Imran’s party.
Earlier too, after the release of the audio clip, Maryam had expressed concern that court decisions were being made on the basis of “likes and dislikes of wives and mothers-in-law”, rather than on the basis of constitution and law.
Khan was on Friday granted bail by the Supreme Court of Pakistan after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested the ousted prime minister in a corruption case.
Khan’s arrest by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises last Tuesday triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.
For the first time in the country’s history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the historic Corps Commander’s House in Lahore.
Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan’s party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.
Meanwhile, Pakistan spiralled into anarchy with PML-N workers staging protests against the country’s judiciary, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Monday, May 15 lambasted the ruling government of Shehbaz Sharif for encouraging them to climb the court’s gates and breach the premises. “People are jumping the gates, the government is helping,” the Chief Justice of Pakistan was quoted as saying by the Islamabad-based Ary News.
Demonstrations against the Supreme Court of Pakistan broke out after the Supreme Court ordered the “immediate release” of the ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in what was viewed as a setback for the country’s anti-graft agency National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Chief Justice of Pakistan ruled that Imran Khan’s arrest was “unlawful” and that the decision of his detention “would be reversed”. CJP Bandial noted that the arrest of Khan from the premises of the court by the Paramilitary Rangers was “contempt of court.”
On Monday, Pakistan’s National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion to form a special committee to file a reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Bandial in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). The government of Pakistan accused the CJP of “misconduct and deviating from the oath”.
The motion was brought by Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Dr Shazia Sobia. During the hearing, Pakistan’s lawmakers “strongly condemned” the attacks on the Lahore Corps Commanders Jinnah House, Radio Pakistan’s Peshawar office, and the loot and arson in different parts of Pakistan by the protesters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI]. The National Assembly passed a resolution for the formation of a five-member committee to file references against judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
As the protests against the Supreme Court gained momentum, several Pakistani leaders launched scathing attacks against the judiciary. PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz demanded that the Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial must step down immediately.
She said that “free and fair elections are not possible until Umar Ata Bandial remains the country’s top judge”. She went on to add, that the elections in Pakistan “will be held on its scheduled time after you step down,” referring to the Supreme Court’s CJP. PML-N’s Maryam blamed the Supreme Court for “anarchy” saying: “All of you should be aware that the anarchy and crisis that has taken over the country today, the place of its genesis was not Zaman Park as much as Umar Ata Bandial’s post.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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