ISLAMABAD: Describing the July 13 Supreme Court verdict on the National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling as landmark and historic, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar disclosed on Thursday that two former chief justices of Pakistan declined the offer to head the commission of inquiry on foreign conspiracy, citing reasons that PTI chairman Imran Khan will never accept its findings.

The law minister, who was speaking at the PID Auditorium along with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, said the apex court’s judgement on the deputy speaker’s ruling on the no-trust motion against former prime minister Imran Khan has effectively buried for all times to come the narrative built on the ‘threat letter’ which PTI claimed had resulted in the regime change with the help of foreign powers.

The law minister said the government owned the letter written by his former counterpart Fawad Chaudhry to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial with a plea to form a commission and hold an inquiry on the threat letter.

“We are ready to cooperate with the court in case it decides to constitute the commission since we own the letter,” said the law minister but hastened to add that the Supreme Court itself held in the judgement that it did not find seriousness in the allegations besides the court opted not to get itself involved in it for being a political question especially when the former government provided no evidence before the court to substantiate the allegations.

Mr Kaira, meanwhile, said the court judgement has established that PTI’s narrative of foreign conspiracy was in fact a plot against the people of Pakistan and its democratic institution. He, however, extended an olive branch to Imran Khan by stating that though he may continue public meetings against the present government or try to dislodge it through democratic means by moving a similar vote of no-confidence but should consider joining the mainstream politics instead of continue to malign and attack institutions or inculcate politics of hatred and chaos.

Mr Kaira also asked the PTI chairman to name any judge of his choice so that a proper inquiry commission could be constituted so he may not have any excuse but to accept the findings of the probe.

He reminded that the National Security Committee (NSC) had rejected the conspiracy narrative besides the apex court judgement also exposed the veracity of the foreign conspiracy theory.

On invoking Article 6 (high treason) as suggested by one of the Supreme Court judges, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Azam Tarar conceded that the constitution was clearly trampled upon by killing the no-confidence motion, still it was a very serious matter and the entire parliament than an individual should come out with a clear approach how to deal with it as suggested by the judge.

Mr Kaira regretted that the PTI chief always paint his opponents as traitors only to create confusion in the society and anarchy in the country, adding Imran Khan should come out with a solid evidence on the conspiracy theory.

Indeed, the four-year term of Imran Khan proved a disaster for the country as he miserably failed to fulfil even the single promise he made with the people he said, adding the present government was left with no option but to opt for difficult decisions like jacking up the petroleum and energy prices only to avoid and save the country from default or becoming a second example after Sri Lanka because Imran Khan chose not to pay the price for the welfare of the country.

Explaining different features of the Supreme Court ruling, the law minister said, Imran Khan showed undue haste in extending advice to the president for dissolving the National Assembly, the moment the deputy speaker set aside the no-confidence motion against the then prime minister in bad faith also regretting that the president also did not apply his mind in dissolving the National Assembly instantly.

Heaping praises at the Supreme Court for its judgement, the law minister said the court had once again played its role in strengthening the democratic norms and the rule of law in the country.

Azam Tarar emphasised that the July 13 judgement was an unanimous verdict of five Supreme Court judges though two judges added their additional note by observing that Article 5 of the constitution which commands loyalty to State was violated.

The law minister also wondered why the former premier kept silent for 20 days from March 7 when the cipher reached the country until March 27, adding the judgement had also ruled that no-evidence was provided to establish that foreign hands were behind his ouster from the government. This issue was also deliberated during the NSC meeting and brushed aside for not being a grave national security issue.

He was of the view that if the previous government believed that the matter was very serious then it should have tabled it before the parliament to discuss and probe the cipher in an in-camera House proceeding.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the law minister chaired a meeting of Cabinet Sub-Committee on Missing Persons and reiterated the commitment to submit committee’s recommendations to the cabinet in four to five weeks.

The meeting was also attended by Human Rights Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Maritime Affairs Minister Faisal Sabzwari, Science and Technology Minister Agha Hassan Baloch and senior officials of the law and interior.

Chairperson of the Defence of Human Rights Pakistan Amna Masood Janjua also attended the meeting on special invitation and put forward her suggestions to the committee to resolve the issue of missing persons.

The law minister said other stakeholders would also be invited to attend the forthcoming meetings of the committee and present their suggestions. Representatives of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Bar Associations would also be invited to attend the next meeting, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2022