ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the text of a recent press conference by Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan wherein he had mentioned making Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers disappear before the July 22 election for the office of Punjab chief minister.
In the press conference on July 18, Khan, accompanied by Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb, while discussing means to ensure Hamza Shehbaz remains chief minister — an unlikely prospect as the PTI-Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) combine commands 188 votes of the 186 needed — said the situation could change if “five to seven PTI lawmakers don’t come to the assembly on voting day.”
He did not clarify if this meant the PML-N planned to detain some of the PTI’s lawmakers or is willing to offer them deals, as it did the earlier defectors later disqualified by the Supreme Court.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the petition filed by PML-Q leader Elahi.
However, the following day, Q League, whose leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is the two parties’ joint candidate for the post, moved a contempt petition against Khan in the apex court over his statement.
Addressing a press conference, Elahi, who’s speaker of the Punjab Assembly, said that instead of focusing on law and order, Khan was using Intelligence Bureau (IB) to harass lawmakers of his party.
During the proceedings on Wednesday, Faisal Fareed, counsel for Elahi, urged the court to initiate contempt proceedings against Khan, Aurangzeb, and PML-N leader and minister Attaullah Tarar.
He contended they had violated the July 1 order of the Supreme Court for holding “run-off polls” for the chief minister’s office on July 22 and during the interregnum period, “Hamza Shehbaz remain within the confines of the Constitution and the law without incidence of harassment of political opponents or witch-hunt”.
However, Justice Ijaz ul-Ahsan observed the petitioner was “merely quoting a newspaper clipping” and summoned a transcript of the press conference in court.
He further said that once the text was submitted, the case would be set for hearing.
SC MOVED OVER ‘MEDDLING’ IN ELECTION
In a related development, PTI secretary general Asad Umar moved Supreme Court against what he said were attempts to influence the election.
Sharing the details of the contempt plea he filed, Umar said Khan and the Punjab government have been made nominated as respondents.
Naked threats of the use of police and its so-called special branch to interfere in the process by the interior minister are a clear contempt of the court’s July 1 verdict, he said.
