SC moved to remove Alvi as president

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was requested on Saturday to declare that President Arif Alvi should not continue as the head of the state for his failure to perform his constitutional obligations and committing gross misconduct.

A citizen, Ghulam Murtaza Khan, filed a petition in the apex court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution making President Alvi and Ministry of Law and Justice as respondents.

The petitioner prayed the apex court to issue directions to investigate the matter and declare that the present president, Arif Alvi, should not continue as the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

He contended that being the Head of the State, Alvi is under constitutional obligation to work in accordance with law but he was misusing the powers and violating the Constitution continuously by his words and conduct, therefore, he was not entitled to be on this very prestigious position as the head of state.

The petitioner submitted that President of Pakistan represents the whole nation, therefore, he should fulfill this responsibility patriotically, with loyalty and devotion. “The president should not have been representing one party (political) which is very evident that he is representing and portraying one party i.e. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Pakistan,” the petitioner maintained, adding that the big example was the dissolution of the assembly in April 2022 upon the instructions of former prime minister Imran Khan, which has ruined the whole political scenario in the country as well as damaged the image of Pakistan internationally.

The petitioner submitted the president did not also give the election date as required under the Constitution and pointed out that Alvi misused his powers by using his office to support the PTI.

The office is being used for meetings/ activities of PTI, the petitioner alleged, adding that this act of the president was wholly unconstitutional and biased towards the whole nation.

He submitted that not signing the Official Secrets Amendment Bill and Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 is a grave misconduct by him which too shows his partiality, adding that the president at various occasions contradicts from his position by giving controversial statements.

“Recently, he tweeted about Military Court and Official Secret Act which has been confirmed by his secretary that the files were with the president,” the petitioner submitted, adding that these kinds of acts have made the character of the president distrustful for the whole nation because he violated the provisions of Article 5 and 12 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, an application has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) to remove caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar from his office.

According to the petitioner, the appointment of Kakar has become ineffective after the completion of 90-day period on November 15. Therefore, constitutionally he is no longer the caretaker prime minister.

The petition said that the Election Commission did not extend the caretaker prime minister’s term, so the court should issue an order to remove him from the office.