Imran says ‘undeclared martial law’ in Pakistan; files plea in SC
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the government invoking Article 245 in several provinces, terming it “undeclared martial law.”
Under Article 245 of Pakistan's Constitution, the army can be called in to aid the civil administration to defend the country.
Khan has filed a plea in the Supreme Court, challenging the invoking of Article 245 in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad and calling it “undeclared martial law”.
In his petition, the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) chief said the arrests, investigations and trial of citizens under the Army Act 1952 were “unconstitutional and void and of no legal effect and amounts to negation of the Constitution, the rule of law and independence of the judiciary." He
said that the “dismantling of PTI through forcible quitting of party membership and office are unconstitutional and void being against Article 17 of the Constitution”, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Khan also urged the apex court
to order the formation of a judicial commission to probe the violence that erupted on May 9.
The plea named Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, ex-president Asif
Ali Zardari, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-zardari, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other as respondents, the report said.
Prime Minister Sharif has said the attackers of May 9 attacked the "idea and identity of Pakistan and gave the enemies of the country reasons to celebrate”.
“I don't see the tragic incidents of May 9 as merely a protest that became violent. The designs of those who planned them were actually very sinister," he tweeted on Thursday.
"There was a clear build-up to the shameful incidents, as the whole nation witnessed in utter disbelief and a state of shock how the lust of some people for power made them do what was never done before,” he said.
Sharif said the “tragic and heart-rending events” of May 9 were a wake-up call.
“We have to identify and expose all such people who want to destroy the foundations of Pakistan. May 9 has drawn up a dividing line between the protectors and builders of Pakistan and those who wish to weaken it,” he said.