Pak Supreme Court says deputy speaker’s rejection of no-trust vote wrong: Report

Pakistan national assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri’s ruling which dismissed the no-confidence motion against prime minister Imran Khan was erroneous, chief justice Umar Ata Bandial said on Thursday.

“The real question at hand is what happens next,” Pakistan daily Dawn quoted the chief justice’s remarks during the hearing. Adding that the top court would issue a verdict today, the CJP said, “We have to look at national interest.”

The apex court’s five-member larger bench — headed by Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel — is hearing the case.

Ahead of the announcement of verdict by the Supreme Court, security commandos have been deployed inside the premises. Earlier, attorney general Khalid Javed Khan argued that the prime minister was the biggest stakeholder and had the power to dissolve the national assembly, the newspaper reported.

During the hearing, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel said even though deputy speaker Qasim Suri announced the dismissal of no-confidence motion, the ruling was signed by speaker Asad Qaiser. The judge also said that the records of the parliamentary committee meeting which were submitted to the court didn’t prove if the deputy speaker was present.

Pakistan is in the midst of turmoil after the President Arif Alvi dissolved the national assembly following the dismissal of no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. The opposition moved the top court challenging the order and calling it unconstitutional.

Imran Khan and his supporters have alleged a foreign conspiracy to remove his government from power. The Pakistan prime minister named a US diplomat Donald Lu as being involved in the alleged conspiracy to topple his government.