References against CJP, two SC judges under study: Sana

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Saturday that references against Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and two other Supreme Court judges are under consideration.

Speaking to a private TV channel, he said the government had not taken a final decision but it could happen as the three judges had issued verdicts that were against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN).

“One of the decisions pertained to Article 63 which was regarded as rewriting the Constitution by everyone familiar with the Constitution,” he added.

Sana said it seemed that the judges wanted to decide the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) elections case ‘by themselves’.

“They refused to accept the verdict of the majority bench by rejecting the plea to form a full-court bench,” he added.

He claimed that PTI chief Imran Khan was responsible for the division in the judiciary and the PTI government’s reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa sowed the division.

He reckoned that the state of division in the judiciary in the PDM-led rule was no different than that of the PTI.

Responding to a question on throwing PTI chief Imran Khan out of politics, he said only elections were the way to throw someone out of politics in democracy adding that all political parties agreed to it.

“If he wants us eliminated, why would not we see him gone?” he added.

Talking about the schedule for elections, Sana said assemblies would be dissolved after due time and elections would be held within 90 days of the dissolution. “Imran Khan dissolved the assemblies of Punjab and KP in violation of the Constitution,” he claimed.

On the statement on “either Imran Khan will stay or us”, he said Imran Khan had the same policy as he thought the opposition was the real problem of the country. “The PTI chief tried his best to eliminate us during his rule and got fake cases lodged against us,” he added.

The minister claimed that Imran Khan had sown a misunderstanding circulating in the media that the government wanted to murder him. “We talk about politics but whenever he does, he mentions his murder plan,” the minister added.