Daily Times

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said the government would accept the decision of the full bench of the Supreme Court in the case for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Islamabad Lawyers Complex here, he said however, those judges who had earlier recused themselves should not be made part of that bench. He recalled that Justice Munir was the creator of the doctrine of necessity which took Pakistan down to a certain direction. He said, “We respect the Supreme Court and justices and their decisions should apply on everyone.” Talking about proceedings of the Supreme Court in the case for elections, he mentioned that a nine-member bench was formed which was later shrunk to three members as some judges recused. In the same case, political parties were not made part of the proceedings despite requests, he noted. The prime minister said if the demand for a full bench of the Supreme Court was accepted in the case for elections in Punjab ad Khyber Pakhtunkhwa then everybody would have accepted the decision.

He said the decision of Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Esa was invalidated through a circular in a case. Then a six- member larger bench was formed for the same case. Article 63A of the constitution was rewritten and the appeal filed by the government in the Supreme Court was still not heard, he continued. He said no political party could evade elections as it would bury its politics. He said a court verdict was given that a prime minister was nothing without his federal cabinet but this principle was not applied on others.

He said all the stakeholders should look at their conduct and decide whether they wanted to protect the future of coming generations or they wanted to indulge in fights for their personal interests and take Pakistan in a direction from which nobody could come back. “We have to protect the future of Pakistan which is faced with many challenges. We should take decisions with a cool head and stay united for the interest of Pakistan,” he said. While expressing delight at the construction of Lawyers Complex, he said the project would be built at a cost of Rs 1.8 billion. Earlier, the project was only on papers and nothing was done on it, he told. He directed that sports complex comprising swimming pools should also be made part of the the lawyers complex.

He said lawyers were a prominent section of society and they played an important role for the rule of law, restoration of judiciary and justice since the creation of Pakistan. Lawyers bore baton charges and physical violence as they held demonstrations and rallies for the restoration of the judiciary, he added. Earlier, Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah and Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar also spoke and highlighted measures taken for the welfare of lawyers.