The Supreme Court of Pakistan Wednesday ordered the concerned personnel to completely clear all the routes leading to the Supreme Court Headquarters by Thursday (today).
A five-member bench led by Justice Nasirul Mulk heard the case against Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri pertaining to the extra-constitutional measures to remove the government.
During the case hearing, the attorney general submitted government’s response regarding the sit-in protests by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).
Justice Saqib Nisar remarked that the “political mess” should be kept away from the courts. The Constitution Avenue has been blocked and the protestors are hindering people’s right to free movement, said Nisar, adding that some complaints of stopping people at Constitution Avenue have also been received.
Responding to the remarks, PTI’s counsel Ali Zafar said that if people were stopped at Constitution Avenue, it should be considered their “personal issue”. When the leadership addresses the public, people get emotionally charged and in that kind of an uproar it was difficult to handle everyone, he added.
Justice Nisar said that the sit-in protests would not be interrupted but the protestors must not violate the basic fundamental rights of the citizens.
Speaking to Zafar, Justice Jawad S Khwaja said that PTI leadership was unable to control the crowd because the Constitution was not being adhered to and the political situation was leading to anarchy.
“It’s our responsibility to abide by the Constitution and provide justice to the people but even we face extreme difficulties in reaching the court because of the protests,” said Justice Khwaja.
The judges, including chief justice have been facing difficulties in reaching the Supreme Court and instead have been taking a longer route. Besides, a number of cases have also been adjourned because the counsel and litigants couldn’t reach the court.
Moreover, PTI’s counsel Zafar mentioned that 14 people had been killed in the Model Town tragedy and hence, PTI was standing up to secure the rights of the common people. All those affected by the Model Tragedy were bearing far more pain than these petty concerns of physical immobility, argued Zafar. However, PTI has assured that the flow of traffic at Constitution Avenue would be restored, he stressed.
Replying to his remarks, Justice Amirul Mulk said that the case regarding Model Town tragedy was under trial in the Lahore High Court and hence should be avoided.
In an interim order, the court said that the club-wielding workers were carrying out exhaustive inspection of the passers-by including lawyers in an attempt to harass them.
The court ordered that the route to Supreme Court building must be cleared by tomorrow for easy access to the court and to ensure right to free movement. Attorney General, PTI and PAT’s counsels and registrar of Supreme Court must review the case and submit a report by today.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered PAT and PTI to clear the Constitution Avenue.
During the hearing of the case, both PAT and PTI were ordered to clear the Constitution Avenue where the sit-in protest was going on in front of the apex court.
The Supreme Court claimed that the protestors were violating the basic rights of the citizens ensuring freedom of movement and right of assembly as laid out in articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution.
However, participants of ‘Azadi March’ and ‘Inqilab March’ have vacated one lane for judges’ easy access to the apex court.