Khawaja Asif says the judiciary cannot dictate the parliament as it is independent

ISLAMABAD, May 30 (SABAH): Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday excoriated Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial for his inclusion in the five-member larger bench to hear petitions against the inquiry commission probing audio leaks involving judges.

“Parliament will retaliate if its authority is challenged and if our writ comes under attack, the house will counterattack,” the defence minister told the top judge while speaking in the National Assembly on a point of order.

He said that the government had formed a commission and it was stopped from operating by the chief justice. “The judiciary cannot dictate the parliament as it is independent,” he added.

“It was expected that the chief justice would leave this matter to the commission as it also involved his mother-in-law,” said the defence minister.

Talking about the Arsalan Iftikhar case, Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary had recused himself from the bench at that time and distanced himself from his son’s case.

“If Iftikhar Chaudhary can separate himself from the bench then the incumbent chief justice should also be separated,” he said, adding, “It seems like good traditions are being abandoned.”

Speaking about the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, the seasoned politician said that the top court took notice of the bill before it even became an act.

“We have not added any outsider inside the commission,” he said, adding, “We want an end to the one-man show in the apex court. We want transparency of justice to be increased as we don’t want any confrontation with the judiciary.”

Khawaja Asif said the principle of trichotomy of power as enshrined in the Constitution, desires that no institution, including the judiciary can dictate others.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif said we want to enhance respect and honour of the judiciary and strengthen the judicial system. But, one should not sit on the chair of the justice if he, directly or indirectly, is involved in a matter or accused of something.

The Defence Minister said the government constituted an inquiry commission to probe the leaked audios of various people, including that of the mother-in-law of Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and a son of the former chief justice of the apex court. He said the government did not include Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in the commission because of the conflict of interest as the it was tasked to investigate the audio leaks of her mother-in-law as well.

Khawaja Asif said the commission comprised the senior Puisne judge of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices of the High Courts of Balochistan and Islamabad.