Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will not be convicted of contempt of court by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) for not holding elections in Punjab as per the verdict of the apex court, claimed journalist Asad Ali Toor.
In a recent vlog on his YouTube channel, Toor said that although the government has not filed any plea, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has filed a plea requesting the Supreme Court to review its April 4 judgment holding polls in Punjab as the May 14 deadline set by the top court expired on Sunday.
The journalist said that first the plea will be heard, and later the matter of contempt will be discussed.
He said that PM Shehbaz is secure for two reasons. The first is that PM Shehbaz has implemented the verdict of the apex court by putting the matter of the release of Rs21 billion in front of the cabinet, but the parliament rejected the move.
The second reason is that the National Assembly is a representative of the "will of the people," and the Supreme Court cannot direct the National Assembly to formulate a law for it and pass a specific bill on its demand, he added.
Therefore, PM Shehbaz will not be charged with contempt in today’s hearing, the journalist stressed.
He further said that if Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ejaz ul Ehsan, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar opt to go after PM Shehbaz to convict him of contempt, then the government will simply refuse to obey the judgment of apex court by saying that these three judges are minority judges and their judgment is not a judgment but a dissenting note, which has no legal value.
Toor said that CJP Bandial knows well that his verdict will not be implemented, and he himself admitted this while addressing a conference in Lahore. The chief justice is aware that the judgment regarding polls in Punjab will not be implemented, but his verdict will exist as a reference, he added.
In a recent vlog on his YouTube channel, Toor said that although the government has not filed any plea, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has filed a plea requesting the Supreme Court to review its April 4 judgment holding polls in Punjab as the May 14 deadline set by the top court expired on Sunday.
The journalist said that first the plea will be heard, and later the matter of contempt will be discussed.
He said that PM Shehbaz is secure for two reasons. The first is that PM Shehbaz has implemented the verdict of the apex court by putting the matter of the release of Rs21 billion in front of the cabinet, but the parliament rejected the move.
The second reason is that the National Assembly is a representative of the "will of the people," and the Supreme Court cannot direct the National Assembly to formulate a law for it and pass a specific bill on its demand, he added.
Therefore, PM Shehbaz will not be charged with contempt in today’s hearing, the journalist stressed.
He further said that if Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ejaz ul Ehsan, and Justice Muneeb Akhtar opt to go after PM Shehbaz to convict him of contempt, then the government will simply refuse to obey the judgment of apex court by saying that these three judges are minority judges and their judgment is not a judgment but a dissenting note, which has no legal value.
Toor said that CJP Bandial knows well that his verdict will not be implemented, and he himself admitted this while addressing a conference in Lahore. The chief justice is aware that the judgment regarding polls in Punjab will not be implemented, but his verdict will exist as a reference, he added.