Pakistan: Chief Justice clarifies SC only looking at legality of Imran Khan no-trust motion rejection

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court would only look into the legality of Pakistan National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s rejection of the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government.

While hearing the arguments from the Pakistan Muslim League-N’s (PML-N) counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan on the rejection of the no-confidence motion, Bandil said that the court will not interfere in foreign policy and in the matter of state policies, Dawn reported.

On Sunday, the Pakistan National Assembly Deputy Speaker had rejected the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government on the grounds that the motion was contradictory to the Pakistan Constitution’s Article 5.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, is hearing the arguments on the question of the legality of the decision of the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, according to Dawn.

The PML-N’s counsel proposed that the apex court should see the foreign conspiracy matter which was raised by Imran Khan in his address to the nation.

“Right now we are looking at the law and Constitution,” the CJP replied and also said, “we prefer that a decision be taken on this matter only. We want to see if the court can review the ruling of the Deputy Speaker.”

The court adjourned the hearing till 11:30am today.

Earlier at today’s hearing, Pakistan’s Supreme Court sought the record of NA proceedings of Sunday when the no-confidence motion was rejected.

Pakistan media and opposition parties criticised the NA Deputy Speaker’s decision on the no-confidence motion, saying that it violated all rules governing proceedings of the House.