Islamabad, Feb 21 (TNS): Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said the Parliament is supreme but there is also the Constitution above it adding that no legislation could be done in violation of the Constitution.
Justice Nisar was referring to remarks given by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the National Assembly in which he severely criticised the recent judicial activism, alleging that it was badly affecting the functioning of his government. The prime minister had also lamented over the passing of alleged derogatory remarks by certain judges for elected representatives.
I was not willing to say this but it had become necessary. The elected representatives of the 207 million people are being dubbed as thief, robber and mafia. Sometimes threats are being hurled that we judges will nullify the legislation that you parliamentarians have passed, Abbasi said in his apparent reference to the ongoing hearing of the petitions challenging the Elections Act 2017 which enabled disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif to re-assume the office of the party president. CJP Nisar also addressed this allegation, saying the court asks questions to understand issues better.
The chief justice said he is neither giving a clarification nor is he liable to give one, adding: “We do not want to make clarifications our weakness. We will not be deterred. In fact, we will, with the best of intent, utilize the power that the constitution and the law has given us. The chief justice said during the hearing that it seems the recommendations of the media commission report about making the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) independent and subsequent government promises have seen little progress.
