ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) Judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has opined that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf PTI)-led Punjab government had killed democracy by dissolving local government system before the expiry of its term.
A two-judge apex bench, headed by Justice Isa, heard the petition of a case related to local-body elections in the country. Justice Isa inquired why that was done.
“By dissolving the local government, the Punjab government has clearly violated the Constitution,” Justice Isa said, adding that, like this, Punjab can continue dissolving local governments till a government of its choice comes along.
Justice Isa further said that the country was being destroyed in a systematic manner. “Yet, when it comes to holding local body polls, the provinces start counting off their problems instead of fulfilling their constitutional duty,” he added.
To this, the Punjab additional advocate-general said a new law had been made for local governments in the province. Justice Isa said, “ECP says there will be huge cost of Rs18 billion on local bodies elections.”
The senior judge also made strong statements over the state of media freedom in Pakistan. He said he would not shy away from saying that the media is not free and that it is being controlled.
“Tell me. Is media free in Pakistan?” Justice Isa asked Attorney-General Khalid Javed Khan. He said the media in the court should raise their hands if they think the media is free.
When no journalist raised their hand, the judge asked the journalists to raise their hand if they think there was freedom of press in the country. Yet again, no journalist raised their hand.
