MNAs opposing liquor bill violate Constitution: Siraj

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has said those parliamentarians who staged a walkout against the bill seeking a ban on liquor were no more eligible to sit in the parliament as they had not only violated the country’s Constitution but also revolted against the Islamic injunctions laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

He demanded the chief justice take suo motu of the matter and proceed under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution against the MNAs, the JI chief said addressing a reception in honour of newly-elected President of Supreme Court Bar Association Amanullah Kinrani at Mansoora on Wednesday. He said the JI had waged an unparalleled struggle for true democracy and the rule of law in the country, urging the legal community to lead the movement against corruption. He said JI had filed a writ for the accountability of 436 other people named in the Panama Leaks two years back, but there had been no move against them or against those who had devoured bank loans of billions.

He said due to this, the people had lost hope in judiciary and justice. Sirajul Hq said general public had serious complaints against the police and the Patwaris and they felt helpless. He said it was the duty of the lawyers to play their role in pulling the country out of the mess. SCBA President Amanullah Kanrani said dispensation of justice was not the responsibility of judges alone and there should be a longing for the establishment of a system of justice in every individual and he/she should play his/her role in this respect.

He said the time had come when the ruling elite was also appearing before the courts. He said the society needed a strong judicial system that could provide justice to the rich as well as the poor.

A system in which the laws for Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were different from the laws applied to a poor man could not work anymore, he added. He called for establishing high court benches in the big cities.