ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court declared null and void the decision related to this article of the Constitution in its short judgment after the arguments of the judicial assistant and the petitioners were completed during the hearing on the review petitions against the interpretation of Article 63-A.
The court, while giving a brief decision, said that the Supreme Court Bar Association and other appeals are allowed for hearing, while the detailed decision will be issued later. The Chief Justice said that this is a unanimous decision of five judges.
A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, heard the petitions related to Article 63-A on Thursday, during which Barrister Ali Zafar, the lawyer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder chairman Imran Khan, announced that he would not participate in the hearing, after which the Chief Justice appointed him as a judicial assistant.
Barrister Ali Zafar said, “Imran Khan has said during the meeting that the composition of the bench is not correct, so we will not be part of the hearing.”
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Barrister Ali Zafar also requested the court to allow Imran Khan to appear via video link, which the court did not approve.
Addressing the Chief Justice, Barrister Ali Zafar said, “You had given him a chance earlier. Imran Khan has reservations about the court; he wants to talk.”
To this, the Chief Justice said, “Ali Zafar, sir, you have not come to the court for the first time; you know how the courts work.”
Qazi Faiz Isa further said, “Generally, the client says that I should be given the opportunity to act as a lawyer. Here, the lawyer is saying that I will meet the client and tell him. You volunteered without a power of attorney, and we welcomed you. On the first hearing, you spoke one thing, on the second hearing, you spoke another, and on the third, you spoke more.”
Barrister Ali Zafar told the court that he had a meeting with Imran Khan yesterday. There was no personal meeting; the police were present at the meeting.
To this, the Chief Justice said, “You were not to discuss any secret matters. This is a constitutional matter; you know.”
The Chief Justice asked Barrister Ali Zafar to give his arguments, to which he replied, “First decide whether you are allowing Imran Khan to appear in person via video link or not.”
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa replied, “Ali Zafar, you are making an unjustified request. You are a senior lawyer, a former president of the bar.”
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Barrister Ali Zafar said, “I want to say something on behalf of Imran Khan. I will talk about the founder of PTI.” To which the Chief Justice said, “You are an officer of the court; five minutes have been wasted.”
Ali Zafar told the court, “I will be out of the courtroom in the next seven minutes. If you do not allow PTI’s founder, I will not appear. The government wants to bring some amendments.”
On this occasion, Justice Jamal Mandukhel remarked, “If you have to talk, do it not from today, but from the beginning.” To this, Barrister Ali Zafar said, “What I want to talk about, you are not letting me do.”
Barrister Ali Zafar said, “Imran Khan’s instruction is that the composition of this bench is not correct; they cannot proceed before it.”
He further said, “The government is bringing a constitutional amendment and judicial package for you. If you give a decision, it will allow horse trading.”
To this, Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said, “Now you are crossing the line. We can give you a contempt of court notice. You are making insulting remarks before the verdict. This is a big statement, and we will not allow such a thing.”
