Imran Khan
Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan has accused the country’s Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa of being biased against his party and urged the judiciary to expedite the hearing of his cases, according to a media report.
In a message to journalists from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi where he is lodged, Khan, 71, called Justice Isa the “B team” of the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and said that the delay in his legal matters was unjust, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
“I urge all judges presiding over my cases to expedite the hearings and refrain from unjustified delays,” he said, adding that delaying the decisions was unjust.
Referring to Chief Justice Isa’s statement about no pressure on him to make decisions, Khan said that the top judge of the country was acting as the second team of the current government.
“He stated that there is no pressure on him, but the pressure comes to those who refuse to indulge in wrongdoing. You are behaving like [the government’s] B-team against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” Imran claimed.
“You snatched the electoral symbol from the PTI, denied a level-playing field, and violated our fundamental human rights in the guise of the May 9 incidents, on which our petition has been pending since May 25, 2023, without a hearing till today,” he was quoted as saying in the report on Friday.
The PTI founder stated that the PTI’s petitions against rigging during the general elections had not been heard yet, adding that the issue of allocation of the reserved seats for women to the party was also pending.
“The Supreme Court’s decisions have revived the doctrine of necessity once again. This is a historic opportunity for great nations to capitalise on historic moments,” Khan emphasised.
The February 8 general elections delivered a fractured mandate. Independent candidates – a majority backed by Khan’s PTI party – won 93 seats in the 336-member National Assembly. Former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 75 seats while the Bilawal Zardari Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) won 17 seats.
Khan’s party has maintained that the powerful establishment had favoured Sharif’s PML-N and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) deliberately used a different form to declare the results to “steal the mandate” that belonged to it.
He criticised that decisions were being coerced through threats, which was dismantling the country’s judicial system.
“The remarks of high court judges have proved that the law of the jungle prevails in the country. It’s time for Supreme Court judges to stand up like high court judges and reject wrong decisions.”
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