Ex-CJP rejects allegations of keeping Nawaz in jail till 2018 polls
Staff Reporter – Islamabad:
Former chief justice Saqib Nisar on Monday said that the accusations levelled against him by the former chief justice of Gilgit Appellate Court Rana M Shamim were “contrary to the facts”.
Speaking to the media, Nisar, who ordered the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) in the Panama Papers case that led to the disqualification of then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said he didn’t want to respond to the “plain lies” of the ex-GB chief justice.
Nisar said that Shamim had asked him for an extension but he didn’t accept his request, adding that the ex-GB CJ had also complained to him about the same.
The former CJP was responding to a story published in a local newspaper by investigative journalist Ansar Abbasi, which stated that Nawaz and Maryam were kept in jail till the general elections in 2018 on the orders of Saqib Nisar.
In response to this story, President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif said, “Allah has His own way of revealing the truth.”
Meanwhile, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry took exception to this report and said it was an “absurd” story by the journalist.
Taking a dig at the report, the minister said as per the news item, a Gilgit judge claimed that the former CJP told a High Court judge not to grant bail to Nawaz Sharif and Maryam before the elections.
“Imagine you go to a judge. He is sitting with his phone to issue such orders in front of you. That too for a suspect who is not an ordinary man but the prime minister,” he remarked on Twitter.
“Maryam always said she has no property in London or Pakistan. Now property worth billions [of rupees] has come to light. Justify it,” he added.