ISLAMABAD   -   The apex court came under fire in the Senate on Friday for the remarks of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial that the parliament was being kept incomplete intentionally, which makes its legislative processes controversial.

A senior lawmaker of the ruling PML-N severely criticized the judicia­ry claiming it was overstepping its ju­risdiction and termed it an attack on the parliament. In response, the oppo­sition PTI defended the comments of CJP by saying that this was a fact that the parliament was incomplete as a major party of the country had been ousted from its lower house through a ‘regime change operation’. Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani re­ferred the matter to the Senate Stand­ing Committee on Law and Justice.

While hearing Chairman PTI Imran Khan’s petition against the amend­ments made by the parliament to the ments made by the parlia­ment to the National Account­ability Ordinance, the CJP the other day had said that the parliament was being kept in­complete intentionally, thus the legislation of amending the ac­countability law was becoming controversial.

The debate started in the house over the issue during question hour when Ja­maat-e-Islami Senator Mush­taq Ahmed raised questions over the Supreme Court’s mon­itoring of the special audit be­ing conducted of Islamabad’s Gun and Country Club. “This is not the job of the Supreme Court”, he said after the house was told that the court had tak­en notice of the allotment of Pakistan Sports Board’s land to the club. The government also said that SC had appoint­ed a caretaker committee and a special audit was being carried out into the alleged irregular­ities in the club under court’s supervision.

Following this, Minister of State for Law Senator Shaha­dat Awan said the role of the Supreme Court was often dis­cussed in the house. He said Senator Irfanul Haque Sid­diqui made some remarks and the CJP passed some remarks in response. He said all insti­tutions should remain with­in the constitutionally de­fined domains. He further said that the parliamentarians and the judges should avoid pass­ing remarks about each oth­er, and some lines should be drawn. He proposed the mat­ter should be referred to the standing committee con­cerned. After this, PML-N Sen­ator Siddique speaking on a point of public concern said that CJP not only gave contro­versial remarks about parlia­ment but also said that only a single prime minister in the country’s history was honest. Perhaps, the chief justice was referring to ex-PM Mohammad Khan Junejo. “Who has given the privilege to CJP that he has declared all prime ministers of the country, from Liaquat Ali Khan to Imran Khan dishonest with a single stroke of pen,” he said. He called these remarks disturbing saying that the leg­islators respected the judicia­ry very much.

He appealed that the courts should not lash the parliament on its back. He accused the CJP’s remarks were an attack on the sovereignty and respect of the parliament. He concluded that the courts should avoid giving political statements by over­stepping their jurisdiction.

PML-N Senator Saadia Abba­si also said that the remarks of CJP were tantamount to attack­ing the judiciary and the parlia­ment, and they should defend their own institution.

In response to the speech of PML-N Senator, Leader of the Opposition in the House Dr. Shahzad said that it was a fact that the parliament was incomplete, as PTI being the largest party in the NA had been converted into minori­ty and ousted from the house. He regretted that the date for the election of provincial as­semblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not being announced which was a viola­tion of Article 105 of the Con­stitution. The opposition lead­er said that the government should make a difference be­tween criticism and contempt. He added if CJP had made some point, then it came in the cate­gory of criticism, not contempt.

Earlier, PTI Senator Shibli Faraz said that there was anx­iety and tension prevailing among public as well as legis­lators, as fundamental rights were being usurped under one pretext or the other and the Constitution was not being fol­lowed. He lamented that if de­mocracy was to be saved, then the incumbent government would have to go for elections to ensure supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law. Responding to the oppo­sition leader’s speech, ex-pre­mier Senator Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said that then prime min­ister Imran Khan was removed through a no-confidence mo­tion, which was very constitu­tional. He added it was PTI that itself violated the Constitution.