ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief and former prime minister Imran Khan Thursday maintained that the strength of the Supreme Court bench does not matter, and all they [PTI] want to know was if the elections will be held within 90 days as per the Constitutional provision or not.
His statement comes after the five-member Supreme Court bench hearing the case regarding delay in elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was dissolved after Justice Aminuddin Khan recused himself.
In a series of tweets, Imran Khan said the government is so scared of elections that it is ready to even destroy the constitution and compromise on rule of law. Khan claimed that before dissolving the two provincial assemblies, he consulted with top lawyers of the constitution adding all of whom were of the unanimous opinion that the relevant constitutional provision regarding holding of elections within 90 days is inviolable.
He alleged the government, its “handlers” and a “compromised” election commission were making a mockery of the constitution. PTI chairman further said that by cherry-picking which articles of the constitution they will abide by, they are threatening the very foundation of Pakistan.
“So petrified are they of elections & so desperate to whitewash their convicted [leaders] that they are prepared to destroy the Constitution and any semblance of rule of law,” Imran concluded.
New Supreme Court bench to take up polls delay case
Hours after Justice Aminuddin Khan recused himself from a Supreme Court bench hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s petition against the ECP’s decision to delay polls in Punjab on Thursday, the court said that a new bench will take up the case at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). The court order was read out by the court staff, which stated that the decision regarding the members of the bench will be taken on Friday and the case will be decided before a bench that does not include Justice Khan.
