Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday criticised two Supreme Court judges for tendering resignations following the passage of the 27th constitutional amendment a day earlier, saying their “consciences only awakened after their monopoly was curtailed.”
Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah handed in their resignations, hours after the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment was signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly today, Asif accused the judges of having “selective amnesia”, saying that they had “forgotten their past” and were now becoming “guardians of democracy”.
“Four to five years ago — in fact, eight to 10 years ago — when the process to remove Nawaz Sharif from his post started, I want to tell you about the history of our SC judges at that time. The conspiracy created against Nawaz before that and the role our judiciary played in turning that conspiracy into reality,” Asif said, amid chants of ‘kon bachayega Pakistan; Imran Khan, Imran Khan’ [who will save Pakistan; Imran Khan, Imran Khan] by the opposition.
“The entire process started with the Panama case when Chief Justice Saqib Nisar formed two benches that deemed Nawaz ineligible to hold office,” Asif said, adding that the bench included Justices Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Ejaz Afzal, Gulzar Ahmed, and Ijazul Ahsan.
“After Nawaz was declared ineligible, another bench was created to decide the duration of the ineligibility,” the defence minister said.
He highlighted that under the supervision of Justice Nisar, a bench comprising Justices Umar Ata Bandial, Ijazul Ahsan, and Sajjad Ali Shah, decided that ineligibility will be life-long.
“Then another bench was formed, also supervised by Justice Nisar, which declared that no ineligible person can become the leader of a political party,” Asif added. He said in almost every political lawsuit, the same few judges were witnessed thereafter.
“When these kangaroo courts were being formed, Nawaz was being victimised, and an agenda was being implemented that he would not remain a leader and would be expelled from politics forever; at that time, no one felt any shame,” the minister said, referring to the resignations of Justices Shah and Minallah following the passage of the 27th Amendment by the parliament.
“These judges from yesterday were serving in SC and high courts back then; now they’re writing poetry and issuing political statements,” referring to a poem Justice Shah added to his resignation letter.
According to Asif, the judges’ “conscience awakened because their monopoly in SC was curtailed.”
The minister added that the amendment in question sought to establish the superiority of the Constitution.
Referring to the opposition, he said that they chant ‘Khan nahi tou Pakistan nahi’ [if there is no Khan, there is no Pakistan], which was proof that they don’t stand with the Constitution of Pakistan but instead with a single person.
“These people have become protectors of terrorists; people who come from across the border and do murder and destruction here,” Asif said, assailing the lack of condemnation by the opposition in the wake of the attacks.
