Aitzaz Ahsan says Supreme Court cannot hear petitions against Speaker’s ruling

Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in the contempt of court case, has said the Supreme Court didn’t have the authority to hear petitions against Speaker’s ruling under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of constitutional petitions filed against Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza’s ruling over the reference against the premier.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Muslim Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were among those who challenged the verdict. The Speaker National Assembly submitted a written-reply to the court through Attorney General Irfan Qadir.

Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) while giving his arguments said the petitions filed against the speaker’s judgment were not qualify for the hearing in the apex court.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said that the petitions had stated that a convicted person was representing the people, adding that the chief executive represented the public but not a political party.

He noted, “The Prime Minister enjoyed the same fundamental rights as any other citizen while the court had the authority to safeguard the rights and provide justice to the people”.

On which, the chief justice said the fate of the public was in the hands of a person who had been convicted by the apex court for defying its orders.

Iftikhar Chaudhry said how an order of a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court could be taken to a high court when the lawyer argued that the petitioners should have first approached the high courts.

Aitzaz was of the opinion that the court could not operate outside the parameters of its authority.

The CJ while addressing the counsel said, “You are an advocate of democracy and of the constitution and no system could function without the two factors. I don’t know if this is coincidence or the pressure of circumstances”.

He further said that Aitzaz Ahsan was relying on judgments over which he had expressed his opposition in the past.

The counsel, however, rejected the impression that he was not working under any kind of pressure.

During the previous hearing held on June 15, Ahsan had supported the speaker’s ruling, saying that the courts must accord the same respect to other institutions, particularly the sovereign legislature, its speaker and its leader (prime minister), as they expected for themselves.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jun 18 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.