The Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Pakistan today filed a review petition in the nation’s Supreme Court against the apex court’s verdict in the matter pertaining to the dissolution of the National Assembly by the Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, as per Pakistani media reports. This comes ahead of the no-trust vote scheduled for later this evening. Notably, Imran Khan had reportedly held a meeting with his legal team prior to the Supreme Court judgement on Thursday. The government in its plea has urged for suspension of the Supreme Court verdict and for the National Assembly to be allowed to function according to the rules, reported ARY News citing sources.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly secretariat has announced that the Speaker’s failure to conduct a no-trust vote today would result in the initiation of Contempt of Court proceedings, according to local media reports. Officials of the secretariat were quoted as saying by Pak media outlets, “We have conveyed to the speaker that there is no way except voting on the no-trust move today. If there will be no voting then it will be tantamount to contempt of court.”
The Supreme Court said in its judgement that the decision by the National Assembly Deputy Speaker to reject the no-trust vote is unconstitutional. The apex court had ordered the Speaker to hold the no-trust vote before 10:30 am on April 9. However, the no-trust vote was deferred till 8 pm after adjournment of session earlier in the day.
