News
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
LHC moved for PM’s disqualification on defying court orders
Staff Report
LAHORE: A lawyer, Allah Bakhsh Gondal, on Tuesday, moved a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking prime minister’s disqualification and action against him for allegedly defying court orders and subverting the constitution.
The petitioner’s counsel, AK Dogar, stated that the federal government confronted the Supreme Court (SC) on several occasions and despite been given orders in different cases, the government did not comply with them.
He stated that the apex court, on petitions against appointments of NAB prosecutor general and acting chairman, directed the government to appoint a new NAB chairman within 30 days, however, the matter was overly delayed and eventually the president’s confidant was appointed as the NAB chairman, that too in a controversial manner and without following the set procedure. The counsel also stated that the SC had, time and again, directed the government to write letter to the Swiss authorities regarding reopening of $60 million corruption cases against President Asif Zardari, however, the government has not taken any action in this regard as yet.
Stating another example, he said that 19 months had gone by and the NRO judgment remained unimplemented.
He stated that some PPP leaders were criticising recent verdicts given and suo motu notices taken by the SC in front of the diplomats, saying that the bad governance was not due to the party’s bad policies but because of the SC’s overstepping.
A top lawyer also revealed that some PPP leaders had even started a campaign against the CJ in the diplomatic circles of Islamabad.
He also stated that the prime minister had taken no step to implement the LHC orders dated May 12, wherein President Zardari was expected to disassociate himself from the political office at the earliest.
The counsel stated that the president, on July 9, met the newly elected members of Azad Jammu and Kashmir legislature belonging to the PPP, who authorised him to take decisions regarding the formation of the government in the state. He stated that the president held another high-level dinner meeting with PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senior Federal Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in which the ruling coalition’s relations with the MQM were primarily discussed. He stated that the president held the third high profile political meeting with a delegation of ANP at the Presidency that was attended by some of its ministers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.He said that such actions clearly reflected that the prime minister was trying to subvert the constitution by starting a campaign against the CJ and judges of the SC. Other examples that reflected the same, included PPP leaders’ call for strike in Sindh and Zulfiqar Mirza’s public attack on the SC judges.
He stated that the prime minister was a “mere puppet in the hands of the president”.
This dictatorship by Zardari in the garb of democracy has subverted the third pillar of the state, namely the parliamentary democracy, he said. He alleged that the prime minister deliberately, in bad faith, and with ulterior motives failed to carry out his inviolable obligations of obedience to the constitution which was his basic duty, hence, he was not loyal towards the state.
He stated that the attempt to subvert the constitution was not just a violation of the constitution, it demanded PM’s immediate disqualification as per the laws. He requested that action be taken against the PM for subverting and undermining the constitution.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk