The legal fraternity on Friday gave mixed reaction to the Supreme Court verdict that dismissed a petition against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and disqualified his close aide Jahangir Khan Tareen in the disqualification case. Some of the noted lawyers lauded the apex court decision, saying it was purely on merit as the court heard the high-profile case for about 405 days.
While some of the lawyers are not happy over the apex court decision for entertaining direct petitions under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, saying due process should be fulfilled. Former President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Kamran Murtaza questioned the apex court's authority to take up direct case under the Article 184(3) of the Constitution, saying it will ultimately damage the reputation of the third pillar of the state.
He said that direct petitions which landed up in the apex court without following the due process, have increased the pending of other cases, as the number of pending cases in the apex court has exceeded 35,000 which is not a good precedence. "This case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and its secretary general took 405 days which means other litigants had to suffer...I would say the apex court has to review this as there should be due process for all the cases where a person should have a right to appeal," he added.
Former Vice President of SCBA, Ikram Chaudhry said that the cases against Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan were polls apart, as the former had to face disqualification for concealing his assets while the latter provided the documents and got exonerated by the apex court.
"Imran Khan had provided all the proofs and given that we were expecting such a decision from day-one... neither did Imran Khan own any offshore company nor did his case come to surface from Panama, so it's balanced decision," he added. About Tareen's disqualification, he said that terming the decision counterbalance by the PML-N is inappropriate at all and they should wait for the detailed judgment of the apex court.
He said whatever Nawaz Sharif did with apex court after being disqualified in Panama Paper case was not acceptable, and the supporters of Tareen are equally bullying the apex court's decision on social media, which is also condemnable. "The trend set by these people to abuse courts when there is a decision against them and showering praise to see a favorable decision should come to an end...the courts take their verdicts on the basis of evidence and we will not allow anyone to ridicule the courts," he added.
Noted lawyer Mohammad Azhar Siddique said that the decision is purely on merit which will go a long way in identifying who is 'Sadiq and Ameen' and who is just acting as being sagacious and trustworthy. "No one should have any doubt about the apex court's verdict as it has set a precedence that no one will be spared if he is guilty, and the Sharifs must know the courts decide all cases purely on merit which is reflective in Orange Line Metro Train Project case and Hudaibia Papers Mill case," he said.
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