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If PTI is still intact today then why independent members have not joined PTI: CJP Qazi Faez Isa

ISLAMABAD, June 24 (SABAH): Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa has said that if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is still intact today then why independent members have not joined PTI. He said when the candidates won as independents, what was stopping them from joining PTI?

He said, “We have not become more conscious than the constitution makers, we bring the country on track and then someone comes, our constitution is progressive. The white color in the flag of Pakistan represents the minorities.”

CJP Qazi Faez Isa wondered why PTI committed suicide when it decided to merge with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) following the February 8 elections.

The CJP’s remarks came during a hearing of the petition filed by the SIC, which is an ally of the PTI, against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict denying reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.

A full court 13-member bench, headed by CJP Isa comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan conducted hearing of the case.

“Why did the independent candidates leave PTI when it is a political party? Why did you commit suicide by joining another party which goes against your arguments?” asked the chief justice. The CJP said that had the independent candidates stayed with the PTI, there would have been no problem today.

Following the Monday proceeding, the Supreme Court said PTI leader Kanwal Shuzab’s counsel Salman Akram Raja and SIC counsel Faisal Siddiqui have completed their arguments in the case.

CJP Isa directed the counsels of other respondents to keep their arguments concise as the court will not allow more time as the counsels for PPP, ECP and the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) will present their arguments in the next hearing. The top court adjourned the hearing of the case till today (Tuesday).