ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed identical petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for alleged lying to Parliament over Army’s role in resolving ongoing political crisis.
The petitions were filed by PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Advocate Gauhar Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ishaq Khakwani, which stated that PM Nawaz had lied on the floor of the National Assembly on the issue army’s role in the ongoing political crisis.
A seven-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, heard the case today.
During the hearing, counsel for Chaudhry Shujaat and Ishaq Khakwani Irfan Qadir contended that PM Nawaz’s statement in the Parliament had been denied by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.
The bench observed that the premier had not made a direct reference to the army and had only endorsed the opinion of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
The bench noted that Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Asim Bajwa had not explicitly mentioned the premier’s name in his tweet and had referred to the government asking the army to play a facilitative role for resolution of the political crisis in the country.
The court said it could not order the trial of PM Nawaz under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution as there was a Parliament in place, adding that it could only do so if elections were in process.
In the existing situation, it said, the matter had to be forwarded to NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and then to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), adding that the court was not the right body to be approached on this.
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