ISLAMABAD -UNS: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will continue sit-in outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan until the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial resigns from his office, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced.
The alliance 13 political parties is all set to hold a sit-in outside the SC on Monday (tomorrow) to protest the judiciary’s “favour” to PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
The protest sit-in is being held side by side the hearing of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) plea asking the apex court to revisit its order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. The petition will be heard a day after the court-ordered election deadline lapses.
As the Islamabad High Court (IHC) eliminated all possibilities of PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest in all cases until Monday (May 15) a day after the apex court had declared Mr Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case “illegal”, Mr Rehman announced the protest and sit-in outside the top court.
The PDM chief made the announcement after an emergency meeting of the PDM, attended by various political leaders including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and PML-N chief organizer Maryam Nawaz.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Mr Rehman criticised the top court for granting bail to Mr Khan in all cases after May 9, and for allegedly giving him preferential treatment. He accused the court of protecting the crime instead of eliminating it and protecting the criminal (Imran Khan).
He also criticised the court for allegedly exceeding its constitutional and legal authority by ordering authorities to refrain from arresting Mr Khan even in unknown cases. He lamented that similar concessions were not given to Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, or Faryal Talpur.
In a video message released on Saturday, the PDM chief said the sit-in would be staged against the protection being given by a three-member bench of the apex court and Islamabad High Court to a “criminal”.
