Pakistan Supreme Court seeks minutes of NSC meeting; adjourns hearing till April 7 on no-trust motion
The Hindu
Chief Justice Bandial asked about the minutes of the recent meeting of the National Security Council which had discussed a letter purportedly showing evidence of the "foreign conspiracy" to oust the PTI-led government
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday sought minutes of the National Security Council meeting to know more about the alleged "foreign conspiracy" as it adjourned till Thursday the hearing of the crucial case about rejection of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan through a controversial ruling by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday ruled that the no-confidence motion was linked with the "foreign conspiracy" to topple the government and hence was not maintainable. Minutes later, President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on advice of Prime Minister Khan.
The apex court within hours took suo motu notice of it and a five-member bench started hearing the case on Monday. The bench is headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and includes Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
During the third day of the hearing on Wednesday, Babar Awan appeared for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and Ali Zafar represented President Alvi.
Chief Justice Bandial asked Mr Awan about the minutes of the recent meeting of the National Security Council which had discussed a letter purportedly showing evidence of the "foreign conspiracy" to oust the PTI-led government.
During the hearing, Justice Bandial questioned the basis on which the speaker issued the ruling, Dawn newspaper reported.
"Can the speaker announce such a ruling without presenting the facts," he asked, adding that this was the constitutional point on which the court had to make a decision.
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