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SC takes up PTI’s vote recount plea tomorrow
As the Supreme Court commences on Monday hearing of a prickly case for the ruling PML-N about recounting of votes in four constituencies of Punjab after verification of thumb impressions, PPP leaders have expressed the hope that the long pending presidential reference on reopening of the ‘murder’ trial of former prime minister Z.A. Bhutto will also be taken up soon.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan will take up the miscellaneous appeal filed by PTI’s Additional Secretary Saifullah Nayazee from Dec 16.
Before his retirement on Dec 11, former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the court office to fix within a week, the June 8 appeal of the PTI in the Workers Party Pakistan case for a regular hearing.
The PTI believes that the verification of thumb impressions and a fresh vote count in the four constituencies might prove a serious blow for the PML-N.
The PTI is seeking a direction for recounting of votes and verification of thumb impressions in NA-110 Sialkot from where Minister for Defence and Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif got elected, NA-122 Lahore from where National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq won, NA-125 Lahore from where Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq was elected and NA-154 Lodhran from where Siddiq Khan Baloch won the election.
According to opposition parties, including the PPP and the PTI, the sacking of Nadra chairman Tariq Malik has a close nexus with the matter since he had refused to bow down and rather inclined for verification of thumb impressions in these constituencies.
“In the same zeal we expect that the hearing on the reference moved on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari, but still pending before the Supreme Court, will be resumed and decided soon,” PPP’s Secretary General Latif Khosa told Dawn.
Mr Zardari had approached the apex court through the presidential reference under Article 186 of the constitution on April 2, 2011, under its advisory jurisdiction to seek an opinion on revisiting the death sentence awarded to Z.A. Bhutto.
“This is not an ordinary litigation, rather a presidential reference on which the apex court has the obligation to answer the questions raised as early as possible,” Mr Khosa said. It would be appreciated if the court resumed the hearing on its own instead of waiting for an application to do so, he added.
What happened to Mr Bhutto was considered by the entire world as a judicial murder and time had come for the judiciary to “wash the 31-year-old stigma” against the late PPP founder, he said.
In a four-three split verdict, a Supreme Court bench had upheld the death sentence awarded to the former prime minister by the Lahore High Court in March 1979 during the regime of Gen Zia who had overthrown the Bhutto government in July 1977.
Similarly, the long awaited verdict on a set of challenges to 27 provisions of the 18th Amendment is still pending. A 17-judge full Supreme Court bench had announced an interim short order after over four months of deliberations on Oct 21, 2010.
Mr Khosa said the PPP government had accepted the guidelines suggested in the interim order by adopting the 19th Amendment and it would be wise of the court to close the issue by prioritising it.
He said the real daunting task for the Supreme Court after the change of guard would be to devise a strategy for clearing the backlog of around 2.6 million cases in the lower judiciary. The LHC alone has 1.4 million cases to decide.
“We expect that the National Judicial Policy Making Committee will come up with a solution to address the issue by involving all provincial chief justices and the district courts.”
On the other hand, Qalbe Hassan, Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, said the new chief justice who heads the judicial commission and appoint superior court judges would soon take up the amendments proposed by the council in the Judicial Commission Rules, 2010.
The amendments were proposed after the PBC decried on August 31 what they call an ineffective role being played by the Parliamentary Committee comprising representatives of different political parties on the appointment of the superior court judges.
SC takes up PTI’s vote recount plea tomorrow - DAWN.COM
As the Supreme Court commences on Monday hearing of a prickly case for the ruling PML-N about recounting of votes in four constituencies of Punjab after verification of thumb impressions, PPP leaders have expressed the hope that the long pending presidential reference on reopening of the ‘murder’ trial of former prime minister Z.A. Bhutto will also be taken up soon.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan will take up the miscellaneous appeal filed by PTI’s Additional Secretary Saifullah Nayazee from Dec 16.
Before his retirement on Dec 11, former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the court office to fix within a week, the June 8 appeal of the PTI in the Workers Party Pakistan case for a regular hearing.
The PTI believes that the verification of thumb impressions and a fresh vote count in the four constituencies might prove a serious blow for the PML-N.
The PTI is seeking a direction for recounting of votes and verification of thumb impressions in NA-110 Sialkot from where Minister for Defence and Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif got elected, NA-122 Lahore from where National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq won, NA-125 Lahore from where Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq was elected and NA-154 Lodhran from where Siddiq Khan Baloch won the election.
According to opposition parties, including the PPP and the PTI, the sacking of Nadra chairman Tariq Malik has a close nexus with the matter since he had refused to bow down and rather inclined for verification of thumb impressions in these constituencies.
“In the same zeal we expect that the hearing on the reference moved on behalf of former president Asif Ali Zardari, but still pending before the Supreme Court, will be resumed and decided soon,” PPP’s Secretary General Latif Khosa told Dawn.
Mr Zardari had approached the apex court through the presidential reference under Article 186 of the constitution on April 2, 2011, under its advisory jurisdiction to seek an opinion on revisiting the death sentence awarded to Z.A. Bhutto.
“This is not an ordinary litigation, rather a presidential reference on which the apex court has the obligation to answer the questions raised as early as possible,” Mr Khosa said. It would be appreciated if the court resumed the hearing on its own instead of waiting for an application to do so, he added.
What happened to Mr Bhutto was considered by the entire world as a judicial murder and time had come for the judiciary to “wash the 31-year-old stigma” against the late PPP founder, he said.
In a four-three split verdict, a Supreme Court bench had upheld the death sentence awarded to the former prime minister by the Lahore High Court in March 1979 during the regime of Gen Zia who had overthrown the Bhutto government in July 1977.
Similarly, the long awaited verdict on a set of challenges to 27 provisions of the 18th Amendment is still pending. A 17-judge full Supreme Court bench had announced an interim short order after over four months of deliberations on Oct 21, 2010.
Mr Khosa said the PPP government had accepted the guidelines suggested in the interim order by adopting the 19th Amendment and it would be wise of the court to close the issue by prioritising it.
He said the real daunting task for the Supreme Court after the change of guard would be to devise a strategy for clearing the backlog of around 2.6 million cases in the lower judiciary. The LHC alone has 1.4 million cases to decide.
“We expect that the National Judicial Policy Making Committee will come up with a solution to address the issue by involving all provincial chief justices and the district courts.”
On the other hand, Qalbe Hassan, Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, said the new chief justice who heads the judicial commission and appoint superior court judges would soon take up the amendments proposed by the council in the Judicial Commission Rules, 2010.
The amendments were proposed after the PBC decried on August 31 what they call an ineffective role being played by the Parliamentary Committee comprising representatives of different political parties on the appointment of the superior court judges.
SC takes up PTI’s vote recount plea tomorrow - DAWN.COM
