ISLAMABAD: Soon after the Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out Tahirul Qadri's petition against the Election Commission on Wednesday, the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief accused the decision of being political rather than constitutional.

Qadri had filed a petition in the apex court calling for the reconstitution of the ECP due to procedural flaws in the appointments of the chief election commissioner and four ECP members. After grilling Qadri for two days on his dual nationality, the SC finally dismissed Qadri’s petition after deciding that he could not convince the bench on his eligibility to file the case.

Speaking to reporters outside the SC premises following the hearing, a visibly annoyed Qadri said that the bench did not even hear his plea.

He accused the court of insulting him by calling him a foreigner. “Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis residing abroad remitting money back home makes up for people’s salaries here,” he said.

Moreover, he said Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had himself taken oath from former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf.

“Somebody should tell me how taking oath from Queen Elizabeth is different from taking an oath from Musharraf,” he said.

Earlier during the hearing, Qadri had also referred to the chief justice’s oath under the Musharraf’s PCO.

Following Qadri’s televised outburst, Lahore High Court Bar Association urged the SC to proceed with contempt of court charges against the TMQ chief. LHC Bar Association President Shahram Sarwar Chaudhry said that it was unfortunate Qadri had used such words against the court both during and after the hearing.

Condemning Qadri’s remarks, he said the apex court should hold Qadri in contempt for his remarks.