PTI tickets being sold: Raja told NA

ISLAMABAD (APP): Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz Ahmad Khan on Thursday levelled an allegation that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) tickets for the provincial assembly elections were being sold.
Speaking in the National Assembly, he claimed that he knew the candidates, who had purchased the PTI tickets. Raja Riaz said PTI Chairman Imran Khan was getting treatment from the courts and on the contrary, others were not granted such relief. He said he opposed the submission of the record of House’s proceedings to the apex court. He was committed to the Parliament’s sovereignty, he added.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Riaz Hussain Pirzada emphasized that the courts should “fulfill their responsibility to dispense speedy justice” to the masses. He also urged the speaker begin the House’s proceedings on time Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Noor Alam Khan reminded the House that as per the Constitution, the PAC was empowered to conduct audits of other institutions. He revealed that former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had been summoned to provide details on the dam funds.
Chaudhry Muhammad Barjees Tahir supported Raja Riaz’s accusations, stating that the House’s proceedings record could not be shared with any other institution. He also recalled the important role played by all political parties in restoring the judiciary during the Musharraf era. Federal Minister Javed Latif said since the signing of the Charter of Democracy by the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), non-democratic elements had been targeting politicians.
He alleged that PTI Chairman Imran Khan was again being facilitated to attain power. He urged the speaker to seek details of plots allotted to former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and others. He emphasized the need to take concrete steps for preventing “the contempt of Parliament” Had the Parliament taken a firm stand in 2017 to foil the conspiracy targeting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the situation would have been different today, he added.
Asif for NA’s Committee of the whole on higher courts’ decisions: Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday urged the National Assembly Speaker to set up a Committee of the Whole to “investigate the decisions of higher courts since Justice Munir to give legal cover to constitutional violations”.
Speaking in the National Assembly, the minister said there was unfortunately “a clash of opinion between two constitutional institutions”. Quoting his own tweet, he said,“The inquest in unethical judicial interventions to destabilise the fountain of democracy and ensure its destruction must start from the Dosso’s Case where the court invented the Doctrine of Necessity to justify all wrongs. It is time Parliament inquires into and hold accountable ( even posthumously ) those Judges who aided and abetted constitutional violations.” “A resolution should be drafted in that regard and the Committee of the Whole should be set up.”
He said they were not against any institution and “every institution should also not trespass on the domains of others. The minister said some 51,000 cases were being before the Supreme Court and over 400,000 cases in high courts. The judiciary should decide the pending cases as many people were waiting for justice, he added.
Earlier speaking in the House, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the speaker could not provide the proceedings of the House to the Supreme Court without seeking the consent of members. “It is a matter of the House’s sovereignty” and it should be placed before the House for a thorough debate, he added. He said the Constitution was drafted by the Parliament under which the judiciary functioned.