If govt bans PTI, Supreme Court will nullify decision within 24 hours: Senator Ali Zafar

The Supreme Court, in its earlier rulings, has set a precedent that the government cannot ban any political party,” he said.

If govt bans PTI, Supreme Court will nullify decision within 24 hours: Senator Ali Zafar. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Barrister Ali Zafar said Wednesday the Supreme Court could revoke the government’s decision of banning his party within a single day.

His statement came after a top minister said the federal government was mulling banning the Imran Khan-led party following the violent May 9 riots, in which military installations were also attacked.

“The PTI has attacked the very basis of the state, that never happened before. It can’t be tolerated”, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said while addressing a presser in Islamabad.

The PTI workers took to the streets after their party chief’s arrest — on the “Black Day” as dubbed by the army — in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

The PTI senator, who fights the majority of cases of Khan, told journalists outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad that vandalism is an “individual act” and based on this, “no party can be banned”.

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“In the past, attempts were made to ban Jamaat-e-Islami. The Supreme Court, in its earlier rulings, has set a precedent that [the government] cannot ban any political party.”

Explaining further, the PTI senator said there are different laws that deal with a party that resorts to violence and incites hate.

“If PTI is banned, then I believe the Supreme Cort will strike down that decision within a day,” the PTI senator said.

Arrests

Zafar added that “nobody is following” the law in the country as he lamented that despite securing bail, his party’s leaders were rearrested.

“This is lawlessness. We are filing a petition against this and the court will take notice,” he added.

PTI leaders — Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Maleeka Bokhari, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, and others — have been rearrested minutes after they were released on bail.

Former PTI senior vice president Shireen Mazari was arrested five times within around two weeks. Following her fifth arrest, she announced that she was leaving active politics and quitting politics.

Not only have party leaders been arrested, but thousands of workers have been put behind bars for the May 9 vandalism, with the army and government determined to try military installations’ attackers under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.