Parliament will act if judiciary crosses lines: Mushahidullah

ISLAMABAD: Calling parliament mother of all the institutions, a federal cabinet member on the floor of the National Assembly (NA) on Friday said that the judiciary should perform its duties within its limits, failing which the parliament will take action.

Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan said parliamentarians would be forced to do legislation to assert supremacy of the parliament if the institution is not allowed to perform its functions.

“Judges should perform their duties and we should be allowed to do our work,” Mushahidullah said. He is not a member of the NA but is allowed to sit here being in the cabinet. As the minister was speaking on the issue, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq asked him to be careful while discussing the conduct of judges. He said the conduct of judges could not be called into question in the parliament. Mushahidullah said to

do legislation was right of the Parliament but it was not being allowed to perform its constitutional function. “The accountability presently is on its peak but it seems that the accountability is meant only for the parliamentarians,” he said adding that the PML-N government since assuming power has been facing numerous hurdles including sit-ins and protest rallies amidst many other restrictions.

He said they have great respect for the judiciary but the judges should avoid indulging in controversies while mentioning there was huge number of cases pending in courts. “Everything will come to a halt if you take governance in your hands,” he said.

About disqualification of Nawaz Sharif, Mushahidullah said he was disqualified for not taking salary from his son. “Nawaz Sharif is followed by the masses despite decisions against him,” he said adding that Nawaz and his whole family had to face trial despite the fact that his name was not mentioned in Panama Papers.

Minister for Kashmir Affairs Chaudhry Birjees Tahir said that there was no doubt that the Parliament was supreme institution but the majority had been deprived of taking part in Senate elections.