Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday ruled out sending a reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry over bribery charges against his son, Dr Arsalan Iftikhar.
“I think there is no need for sending a reference against Justice Chaudhry for alleged involvement of his son in the bribery scam,” Gilani said while talking to reporters after addressing the inaugural session of two-day Vice Chancellors Forum.
He said Arsalan Iftikhar’s case was sub-judice so there was no need to make speculative comments, adding that the media had created unnecessary hype over the issue. Addressing the Vice Chancellors’ Forum earlier‚ Gilani said budgeted allocations for promotion of education had been increased to explore true potential of youth. He said the education sector was a top priority of the government and it would make maximum investment in it.
Later, chairing a briefing on the upcoming UN Conference on “Sustainable Development Rio-20” being held in Brazil on June 20 to 22, Prime Minister Gilani said that climate change is a multi-dimensional developmental challenge for both the developing and the developed world. He said that keeping in view the all-pervasive impact of the issue, it was a challenge for statesmen, policy makers, planners, thinkers, and professionals, which warranted partnership approach. More than 120 heads of the governments and states are expected to attend the multilateral conference, which has been billed as the most important UN Conference of 21st century. Over 40,000 members of NGOs, academia, media, youth, environmentalists and social activists will also be in attendance.
The PM underscored the importance of enhancing cooperation between the developing and the developed countries in order to effectively deal with the challenge of climate change. He said that it was responsibility of the developed world to recognize the concerns of developing countries regarding sustained economic growth and poverty eradication.
No need for reference against CJP: Gilani
