ISLAMABAD: The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday fixed former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s plea seeking formation of judicial commission to probe May 9 events by removing the reservations of the Registrar Office.
A seven-member constitutional bench, presided over by Justice Aminuddin Khan, conducted hearing of the case.
Other members of the bench included Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.
PTI leader and prominent lawyer Hamid Khan represented the former premier in the case.
Khan argued that the country was under an undeclared Martial Law as no one dared probe what actually happened on May 9, adding that the army was called every now and then to ‘normalise’ the situation.
Justice Mandokhail remarked: “You are giving a sweeping statement about the Martial Law”. Justice Mazhar added that the petitioner should also challenge the Article 245 of the constitution under which the army was called.
Advocate Khan replied that hundreds of FIRs were registered after May 9, contending that the PTI was being pushed against the wall.
Justice Mandokhail asked why the petitioner did not approach the high court to which Khan replied that it was matter of whole Pakistan but the Registrar Office was objecting to that.
Subsequently, Justice Aminuddin removed the reservations of the registrar and fixed the case for hearing.
CONTEMPT PLEA
Besides, Justice Aminuddin inquired whether the government was genuinely interested in pursuing the contempt petition against the former premier.
Additional Attorney General (AAG) Amir Rehman replied that the federal government was serious about pursuing the contempt case against the incarcerated former premier, arguing that the PTI founder violated a court order during the long march on May 25, 2022.
Justice Aminuddin noted that if the court had issued a notice, the PTI founder would have to appear in person before the court while directing the additional attorney general to look into the modalities for presenting the jailed former prime minister in court.
Justice Mandokhail stressed that contempt cases were strictly a matter between court and the accused. He asked the parties not to become emotional in this regard.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, who is also counsel for the PTI founder, told court that Khan had already submitted a response in this respect.
He contended that the court’s oral order had not reached the PTI founder, citing disruption of mobile services, which had caused hindrance in communication between the legal team and their client.
Later, the constitutional bench adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.
