The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has withdrawn its petition from the Supreme Court seeking a level playing field in the upcoming general elections.
As the hearing of the PTI’s appeal began in the Supreme Court on Monday, counsel Latif Khosa said the party would like to go to the people’s court for the survival of democracy.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, heard the case.
“We want to go to the court of 250 million people,” he asserted, and told the CJP: “Thank you very much.”
CJP Qazi Faez Isa asked: “Do you want to pursue the case or not?”
Khosa replied that he had been instructed to withdraw the application. “We came to you for a level playing field for fair and transparent elections,” he remarked, adding that people had been allotted symbols like glass, eggplant, bowl etc.
“We have been humiliated,” the lawyer said.
In response, CJP Isa said whether they wanted to accept the court’s decision or not was their choice, adding that the judges should not be blamed for the court’s verdict.
Latif Khosa told the CJP the court had snatched the field from the PTI and insulted the party.
“A party is being banned by evicting it from parliament,” he added. “All the PTI candidates will contest elections as independent candidates and suffer from confusion.”
Justice Hilali asked if Khosa thought the elections were not going to be transparent. He replied the elections were totally unfair.
Khosa further said that they rendered sacrifices for the judiciary. At this, the CJP said he should allow the judges to speak to. “It is not appropriate to talk about another case during the present case,” CJP Isa remarked.
“Do not blame us for the Supreme Court’s decision,” he added.
Khosa said the court’s decision will destroy democracy. The CJP reminded him that the court had asked them repeatedly to prove the intra-party elections were held. “If you don’t like the decision, we can’t do anything about it,” the top judge remarked.
