LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday claimed that dismissal of review petitions against the Panama Papers judgement had scuttled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to avoid the Supreme Court’s monitoring of the corruption trials in the accountability court.
“Nawaz Sharif just wanted to remove the SC’s monitoring judge [who will oversee corruption cases against the Sharifs and Dar in the accountability court] so that their own institutions could delay proceedings for years,” Khan told reporters. He added that after being disqualified by the SC, Sharif had resorted to ‘gimmicks’ such as the GT Road rally to pressurise the apex court.
“These people have used government institutions to protect them and harass others. You need controlled institutions to preserve corruption,” he said, adding that the Sharif family had been served justice for the first time.
Commenting on the bailable warrants issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against him, Imran Khan said, “I ask the ECP, are you a court of law? Have you ever summoned anyone for contempt?”
He lashed out at the ECP over its ‘jurisdiction’, saying this [ECP] is Asif Zardari and Nawaz’s ECP. “They are not neutral umpires,” he said, adding that they will take this matter to the apex court.
“ECP is a weapon of the mafia. I ask them, why are you harassing us for the past several months only when you had all our party’s details for years,” he argued.
In response to a question, he lashed out at the appointment process of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, saying the prime minister and opposition leader, who jointly appoint the NAB chief, are themselves corrupt.
He said the NAB chairman, as well as the ECP chairman and members, should be appointed by the SC.
