The Supreme Court Registrar Office returned on Friday a constitutional filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader Andaleeb Abbas seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In her application, Abbasi had alleged that PM Shehbaz was guilty of breaching his oath by including proclaimed offenders in his delegation during a foreign visit. The petition maintained that PM Shehbaz misused his powers and violated the constitution after taking proclaimed offenders including his son Suleman Shehbaz and Hussain Nawaz, former PM Nawaz Sharif’s son, as part of an delegation to meet Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman April 28, 2022.
PM Shehbaz along with members of his cabinet took a four-day trip to London in May this year. During his visit, the prime minister met with his brother and former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss issues of national and international nature “strictly related to Pakistan’s political and economic policies,” the petitioner alleged. They also alleged that PM Shehbaz during his London visit also met with former finance minister Ishaq Dar, another proclaimed offender.
During his three-day official visit to Turkiye from May 31 to June 2, the prime minister once again included his son Suleman in the delegation along with his wife to attend meeting hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the petitioners said.
The petition accuses PM Shehbaz of violating Official Secrets Act, 1923 by communication official secrets with an unauthorized act. On Friday, however, the registrar office returned the application after raising objections including that “the petitioners have not pointed out as to what questions of public importance in the instant case are involved with reference to enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed under the Constitution, so as to directly invoke jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.” It also said that the prime minister has been impleaded as respondent in the petition, however, he “cannot be impleaded as party under Article 248 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”
The application has failed to satisfy the “ingredients for invoking extra ordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.”
