ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Judge Justice Athar Minallah has said that the very state was busy in toppling governments and its institutions were chasing political opponents. If the constitution had been followed, we would not be in a situation we face today.
He gave these remarks during the hearing of a case on bail plea of Ishaq, a murder accused on the run after securing bail.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail chaired the hearing of the case.
Justice Mandokhail remarked that “what to talk of the state. Three prime ministers were killed and what happened to their cases. A senior most judge was killed in Balochistan. The real issue is the lack of desire to do anything. Compared to the other two provinces, police investigations in Sindh and Punjab are extremely poor.
Justice Mandokhail remarked that as long as state institutions remain engaged in political engineering, the situation will not improve. He noted that people lack trust in institutions and expect the Supreme Court to resolve all issues. Had the constitution been followed, these circumstances would not have arisen.”
To this, Justice Athar Minallah observed that this institution (Supreme Court) exhibits the same truthfulness what exists in our society. This case was brought to the Supreme Court in 2017 and since then, it remained pending.
“It took us 40 years to admit the murder of an elected prime minister. What greater crime can there be than the killing of a prime minister? Someone should have been held accountable and punished,” he said.
Justice Malik Shahzad observed, “If this is the state of a prime minister, what hope is there for the common man? One day, the prime minister is in the Prime Minister’s House, and the next day, they are in jail. No one knows how long someone will remain prime minister.”
The Supreme Court directed the police to arrest the accused, Ishaq, and hand him over to prison authorities.
It is pertinent to mention that the accused, Ishaq, had previously escaped after securing bail.
The Supreme Court also ordered the arrest of the Supreme Court SP after failing to arrest the murder suspect, and ordered to hand him over to prison authorities.