Imran Khan hails SC judgment disqualifying Gilani

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has welcomed the Supreme Court judgment which disqualified Yusuf Raza Gilani as the prime minister of Pakistan.

The PTI was one of the petitioners in the case.

"We took the decision to approach the apex court because after Yusuf Raza Gilani had been held in contempt, the speaker of National Assembly had no authority to question the verdict. Her role was simply to transmit the superior court's decision to the Election Commission, which she refused. This created a situation of constitutional deadlock and it was necessary for the Supreme Court to adjudicate upon it," The Dawn quoted Khan as saying.

Khan described the apex court judgment as "historic because it has demarcated limits of judicial and parliamentary authority. It will set a precedent that once the superior judiciary has convicted someone, no non-judicial forum can hold otherwise. The obvious implication is that once a conviction from a court of law has attained finality, disqualification from membership of a legislature would be automatic".

Khan further said the verdict is a victory for rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution and the final analysis for equity and justice.

"PTI salutes the Supreme Court for demonstrating that before the law, everyone is equal, whether he is a common man or a prime minister," he added.