Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial on Monday said that a “reasonable order” will be issued to assess the legality of the dismissal of the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, reported Dawn.

“The court will only review the Speaker’s ruling, not political statements,” the chief justice observed. The top court will also look into President Arif Khan’s decision to dissolve Parliament on the advice of the prime minister.

The country’s Opposition parties had moved the no-confidence motion against Khan on March. Voting on this was scheduled to take place on Sunday but National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the no-trust vote.

Suri said that the motion breached Article 5 of Pakistan’s Constitution, which deals with loyalty to the state and obedience to the Constitution. Alvi then dissolved Parliament.

The court on Monday dismissed a plea by Farooq H Naek who petitioned to have a full bench hear the matter, noting that the case concerned “complex matters of the law,” reported Dawn. Naek was representing the Pakistan People’s Party and other opposition parties.

The court confirmed with Naek that he had no objections to the five judges on the bench, and said that “forming a full court bench would impede proceedings of other cases,” the newspaper reported.

In the run-up to the no-trust move, Khan had already lost the majority in the 342-member Lower House after his government’s two allies joined hands with the Opposition. Khan also called for fresh elections in the National Assembly.

The Opposition parties have claimed that they had the required numbers in the National Assembly to end Khan’s regime. Describing the deputy Speaker’s decision as “unconstitutional”, they then moved the Supreme Court.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan has taken a suo motu cognisance of the matter. On Sunday, Bandial had said that all actions and orders taken by the prime minister and the president related to the dissolution of the National Assembly “will be subject to the court’s order”, Dawn reported.

In its order issued after Sunday’s hearing, a three-member bench issued notices to Suri and Alvi. It also issued notice to Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan on the constitutionality of the deputy Speaker’s decision to reject the no-trust vote by citing Article 5 of the Constitution.

Khan to continue as prime minister

Meanwhile, Khan will continue as the prime minister, according to a notice issued by Alvi on Monday, reported PTI. The notification stated that the incumbent prime minister will continue to be in office till a caretaker premier is appointed.

On Sunday, the Cabinet Secretariat had denotified Khan as the prime minister with immediate effect.

However, the president can ask the denotified prime minister to continue to hold office until his successor takes the office, according to Article 94 of Pakistan’s Constitution.

Also read:

View from ‘Dawn’: Imran Khan has dealt a blow to Pakistan’s fragile democracy

Political turmoil in Pakistan

The Opposition had alleged that the cricketer-turned-politician has failed to control inflation and was responsible for the economic crisis in Pakistan.

Currently, Khan’s government is left with 164 members of the National Assembly, while the joint Opposition has 177. The majority mark in the Pakistani National Assembly is 172.

On April 31, Khan had claimed that a “foreign nation” was involved in the attempt to oust his government. He had said that he will not resign from his post as prime minister and would face the motion in the National Assembly.

Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said that “Khan is a player who fights till the last ball”.