Former prime minister Imran Khan Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to hear the alleged corruption cases of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his family after he hailed the top court’s decision on Article 63(A).
In a major development, the SC had ruled that the votes of dissident members of the Parliament (MPs), cast against their parliamentary party’s directives, cannot be counted.
The five-member larger bench announced a split decision. The majority of judges, including Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, refused to allow parliamentarians from voting against the party directives under the four instances mentioned in Article 63(A) of the constitution.
Although no PTI member voted for Shehbaz during the prime minister’s election, several party members had voted for Hamza Shahbaz in the Punjab chief minister election — leaving his fate hanging in the balance.
In his address to Kohat jalsa, the PTI chairman praised the Supreme Court’s decision and said the apex court with the verdict has ensured Pakistan’s morality does not diminish.
“I am thankful that the Supreme Court rejected the votes of the people who sell their vote and betray their constituents and democracy,” the ex-prime minister said.
But Khan did not stop there and requested the top court to hear PM Shehbaz and his family’s corruption cases as the incumbent government had “destroyed” the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) — the body probing their cases.
Former FIA director Dr Mohammad Rizwan passed away due to a heart attack and another official who was probing their corruption cases also suffered a heart attack, Khan said and asked the apex court to hear the cases as it was tantamount to “daylight robbery”.
The PTI chairman said if the Sharif family and others get an NRO now, then no one will fear looting the country and dacoits will rule.
“Supreme Court judges, it is your responsibility to hear their cases.”
Khan said when Shehbaz became the prime minister, the cases against him were withdrawn, and a similar thing took place with Hamza as the PML-N president had “FIA officials probing their cases finished”.
More to follow
