ISLAMABAD: An alliance of political parties affiliated with the federal government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a large protest outside the Supreme Court on Monday and accused Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of bias and misconduct and called on him to resign.
The country's higher judiciary and the coalition government at the centre led by Sharif have been at loggerheads ever since the Supreme Court took up cases of delays in announcing elections in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, whose legislative assemblies were dissolved by former Prime Minister Khan and his allies in January to force the government to announce early national elections.
The government's accusations that senior judges are partial towards Khan reached a crescendo last week when his arrest in a graft case was ruled illegal by a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Bandial. Khan was subsequently granted two-weeks bail in a land fraud and other cases by the Islamabad High Court.
Pakistani politician Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) and leader of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, attend a protest gathering in front of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to protest against the granting of bail to Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad, Pakistan May 15, 2023. (REUTERS)
The government and its allies subsequently accused the top judge of bias and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of 13 political parties affiliated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) of PM Sharif, announced it would hold a sit-in in front of the Supreme Court today, Monday.
“Mr. Chief Justice, you have committed misconduct,” PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said as he addressed protesters outside the court. “The judgments of the courts here are engineered, and we won’t accept them.”
Rehman vowed to protect the sanctity of the Supreme Court and parliament.
“If you disrespect the parliament, then our response will also be harsh,” the PDM chief said. “If you want to do politics, then you will have to come out of this [Supreme Court] building.”
He called off the protest but warned that the crowd would be back on a day’s notice if the court did not stop meddling in political affairs.
Supporters of parties from Pakistan's ruling alliance gather near the Supreme Court in Islamabad on May 15, 2023, to protest against the judiciary’s alleged undue facilitation to former Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan. (AFP)
Protesters at the sit-in also chanted slogans against the top judge and carried placards inscribed with slogans against him.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, vice-president of PM Sharif’s PMLN party, also addressed protesters, accusing CJ Bandial of committing “contempt of court.”
"I wish, if this parliament makes a law for contempt of court committed by someone from within the courts, within an institution, then with you [protestors] as my witness, I say that if contempt of court charges are framed against anyone from within the Supreme Court, then Mr Umar Ata Bandial will be the first one to be behind bars,” she said as the crowd chanted.
Maryam clarified that her criticism was not aimed at all judges but only those in the apex court who were “facilitating” Khan.
“Free and fair elections are not possible until Umar Ata Bandial remains the country’s top judge,” Maryam said. “Today, when the army is not ready to impose a martial law and standing by the constitution, a judicial martial law has been imposed from here [the Supreme Court].”
Supporters of parties from Pakistan's ruling alliance gather near the Supreme Court in Islamabad on May 15, 2023, to protest against the judiciary’s alleged undue facilitation to former Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. (AFP)
Speaking about the court’s “interference” in the election schedule, she added, addressing CJ Bandial: “The election will be held on its scheduled time after you step down.”
The PDM’s call for the protest coincided with the apex court’s hearing of a case relating to a delay in elections in the Punjab province, which the court had ordered to be held on May 14. The hearing was adjourned till May 23.
During the hearing, the chief justice urged both the government and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to resume election talks to end political turmoil in the country.
A political and constitutional crisis has gripped the country since Khan’s PTI party and its allies dissolved provincial assemblies in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in January. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the polls should be held in both the provinces within 90 days of the dissolution of their assemblies, as per the constitution, while the Sharif government insists all elections in the country should be held on the same date in October, when general elections are scheduled.
In defiance of court orders, the government refused to release funds worth Rs21 billion and arrange security in time for Punjab elections on May 14, the date given by the Supreme Court.
