Lahore: The Pakistan Democratic Movement—the ruling coalition—expressed their lack of confidence in the  Supreme Court three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial hearing the petitions challenging delay in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections.

The coalition partners made this decision in a huddle with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair at PML-N Secretariat in Model Town in Lahore.

“We don’t have trust on three-member bench of the Supreme court,” said the coalition partners in the declaration issued after hours long deliberation.

حکومت میں شامل جماعتوں کے اہم مشاورتی اجلاس میں اہم فیصلے

حکمران جماعتوں نے چیف جسٹس کی سربراہی میں سپریم کورٹ کا تین رکنی بینچ پر عدم اعتماد کا اظہار کر دیا

تین رکنی بینچ پر اعتماد نہیں ہے، حکمران جماعتوں کا اعلان pic.twitter.com/CSYleuDUtV

— PMLN (@pmln_org) April 1, 2023

The PDM also backed the recently done legislation on the Supreme Court and other issues.

It said, “The unidirectional approach of justice towards the general public will end with the implementation of proper legislation,”.

The parliament, it said, clarified its position on Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, making it clear that parliament is the supreme and everyone should respect its mandate.

اجلاس کا پارلیمنٹ کی حالیہ قانون سازی کی بھرپور تائید اور حمایت کا اعلان

قانون سازی سے عوام الناس کے ساتھ یک طرفہ انصاف کی روش کا خاتمہ ہوگا

پارلیمنٹ نے قانون سازی کے ذریعے آرٹیکل 184 (3) سے متعلق اپنی رائے واضح کردی ہے

— PMLN (@pmln_org) April 1, 2023

The PDM leaders also hoped that President Alvi would not become hurdle in the way of the legislation by staying away from his political affiliation.

Besides deciding reference against the CJP and two other judges of the top court, the PDM leaders urged the top judge to end the impression of special treatment with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif also took part in the huddle through the video link from London. He expressed complete mistrust on the three-member bench of the Supreme court hearing the elections delay case.

تین رکنی بینچ سے انصاف کی کوئی توقع نہیں ہے، تین رکنی بینچ میں ثاقب نثار زدہ لوگ شامل ہیں، اٹارنی جنرل عدالت میں پیش ہوکر تین رکنی بینچ پر عدم اعتماد کا اظہار کریں ۔ pic.twitter.com/j88lBO5n4e

— Mian Javed Latif (@Mian_JavedLatif) April 1, 2023

He said that “Nisar –like people are there in the bench,”.

In the consultative meeting, Nawaz Sharif suggested that the Attorney General for Pakistan should turn up before the top court and express distrust on the three-member bench.

Nawaz Sharif also approved the suggestion of the PDM leaders regarding boycott of the bench.

The development took place a day after the top court gave another opportunity to all the political parties to sit together and discuss the election date and deliberate code of conduct in this regard. The apex court also made it clear that if the government and the opposition failed to reach any conclusion then the judges of the top court would play their constitutional role.

Reacting to the declaration issued by the PDM leaders, PTI leaders said that they did not have any problem with any chief justice.

The PTI leaders said that if the PDM expressed lack of confidence in the Supreme Court bench it would be a contempt of court.

Lahore: Former Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday accused former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa of pressuring him to form friendly ties with India.

Imran Khan made the allegations while speaking to a delegation of journalists at his Lahore residence in Zaman Park.

 He referred to Bajwa as a ‘liar’ and called for him to be held accountable by the army.

The PTI Chief denied any involvement by President Arif Alvi in establishing communication between his party and the establishment. Instead, he stated that PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pervaiz Elahi have been appointed to reestablish contact with other political parties.

Besides it, Khan criticised the caretaker government of Punjab, led by Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, for the police raid on his residence in Zaman Park on March 18. He argued that there was no justification for the attack in his absence and labelled Naqvi, Punjab Inspector General of Police Usman Anwar, and CCPO Lahore Bilal Saddique Kamyana as “criminals”. He also accused the caretaker government of taking measures against PTI and announced that a case will soon be filed against the attack.

Responding to a question, Imran Khan questioned the legality of the coalition government's plan to reinstate the provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab if the elections are not held within 90 days.

He added that if elections are not held within the given timeframe, there would be no Constitution, and he would initiate nationwide protests in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Lahore: Four soldiers were martyred when a group of terrorists operating from Iranian side attacked a routine border patrol of Pakistani security forces at Jalgai Sector in District Kech of Balochistan.

According to media wing of Pakistan Army, the martyrs were indentified as Naik Shair Ahmed, Lance Naik Muhammad Asghar, Sepoy Muhammad Irfan and Sepoy Abdur Rasheed.

Necessary contact with Iranian side is being made for effective action against terrorists on the Iranian side and to prevent such incidents in future.

Taking to Twitter, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah expressed his condemnation of the attack and praised the martyrs. He tweeted, “ the brave individuals who gave their lives to defend the country are honored and respected by the entire nation,”.

He also said that, “the nation's solidarity in the fight against terrorism and asserted that this menace will be eliminated,”.

پاک-ایران سرحد پر سکیورٹی فورسز پر حملے کی مذمت کرتا ہوں، شہید اہلکاروں کو خراجِ عقیدت پیش کرتا ہوں۔ وطن کے بیٹے اپنی سرزمین کی حفاظت کیلئےجانیں نچھاور کررہے ہیں، پوری قوم انہیں سلام پیش کرتی ہے، قوم دہشتگردی کے خلاف جنگ میں متحد ہے، انشاءاللّٰہ اس ناسور کا خاتمہ کر کے دم لیں گے۔

— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) April 1, 2023