AGP Shehzad Elahi clarifies CJP Bandial’s comment on becoming a “honest PM”

ISLAMABAD : After Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial’s comment regarding the nation’s “honest prime minister” in a case was taken out of context and distorted on social media, Attorney General of Pakistan Shehzad Ata Elahi provided explanation.

Imran Khan, a former prime minister and the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, filed a plea on February 9 asking the highest court to hear his argument against the coalition government’s modifications to the National Accountability (NAB) Ordinance.

The top judge praised the late PM Muhammad Khan Junejo throughout the hearing. Thoughts on the statement were raised by PML-N Senator Irfanul Haque Siddiqui during a Senate session on February 10 as a result of his comments.

“Only one prime minister has been referred to as honest by the chief judge, most likely Muhammad Khan Junejo. Who gave him the right to label everyone dishonest, from Liaquat Ali Khan to Imran Khan?” he asked.

“It was also accidentally and mistakenly believed without verification by certain Hon’ble Parliamentarians who spoke negatively about the same on 10.02.2023, the Attorney General said in a letter to Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar. Their opinions were extensively covered in the national news on February 11, 2023.

Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi v. Federation of Pakistan, Constitution Petition No. 21/2022, hearings, on February 9, 2023, “an inaccurate version of several remarks by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan (“HCJP”) made that day during the proceedings surfaced on social media platforms.”

In order to make it clear that he was there for the whole hearing, he stated: “Certain remarks were made by the HCJP in the context of the Supreme Court’s failure to reinstate the National Assembly in 1988 following its dissolution.”

The chief justice recalled how the previous CJP had expressed concern for the National Assembly’s lack of restoration in 1988 in the case of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif v. President of Pakistan in 1993.

On the other side, social media indicated that CJP Bandial had made a statement on the sincerity of the nation’s prime ministers.

“I can affirm to you that no such observation was made since I was in the Court personally when these procedures were taking place. In reality, the HCJP had remembered the sorrow expressed in the aforementioned case in 1993 by Justice Nasim Hassan Shah, then Pakistan’s Chief Justice.

The CJP continued by commenting on Mr. Muhammad Khan Junejo, the then-deposed Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was ousted under Article 58(2) and who was a very good and independent guy (b).

According to the solicitor general, the CJP’s comments seemed to have been misunderstood and incorrectly expressed on social media as “if just one Prime Minister [Mr. Muhammad Khan Junejo] was honest in the history of Pakistan.”

“However, on February 9, 2023, the HCJP issued no comment to this effect. However, a false narrative on the HCJP’s views was spread on social media,” he emphasised.

AGP Shehzad Ealhi urged the law minister to inform lawmakers with the accurate information in order to clear the air.