Expressing surprise that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) still had no idea about their constitutional status, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Wednesday suggested holding a referendum or a plebiscite in GB and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by the CJP, heard the petition filed against the appointment of judges to the top court of GB. The additional attorney general (AAG) said that it was the job of the United Nations to hold a plebiscite in these territories. The CJP replied that he had no information about that. “All I am asking you whether this is possible.” The AAG told the apex court that the government wanted to make GB part of the federation, but some international conventions were stumbling blocks in its way. The chief justice said that India had devoured the state of Jammu and Kashmir by abolishing its special status.

He then asked whether the federal government had been formed after the elections. “Who has been elected as the prime minister?” Saad Hashmi, counsel for the GB government, told the CJP that the government was yet to be formed. “However, there are reports that the newly elected National Assembly would meet on February 29th.” Informing the court that the country’s prime minister was the GB Council chairman, the AAG said it would be better if the court waited for the formation of the new government at the Centre. Advocate Muhammad Ibrahim said that the verdict given by a seven-member bench of the SC on GB in 2019 was related to the case being heard today. The bench then referred the matter to the committee of judges for the formation of a larger bench on the case. It also issued notices to the Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council and the Supreme Appellate Bar Association for assistance. The court then adjourned the hearing for an indefinite time period.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)