ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb, talking to the media outside the accountability court here on Wednesday, said that Nawaz Sharif, who had elevated Pakistan to the prestigious status of a nuclear power and protected the judiciary, was today sitting in the court to uphold the sanctity of law and constitution, while those who sabotaged the constitution, attacked the judiciary and the parliament and abused the constitutional institutions were roaming around freely.
Referring to the mention of a caravan in the Supreme Court decision on the review petition of Sharifs, she said that history was witness to the fact that caravan of Pakistan was vandalised only when the judicial system became subservient to the dictatorship. She said that it was a historical reality that people had invariably given their own verdicts whenever a popular leader was ousted through the sword of law. She said that the people of Pakistan had thrice given their verdict in favour of Nawaz Sharif, who now had been disqualified on the basis of Iqama.
Marriyum said that the review petition was based on hard facts and the expectation was that it would be heard by judges other than the ones who delivered the original verdict because it was inclusive of controversial mattes that happened in the SC and JIT. The minister said it would have been in the fitness of things had another bench voluntarily heard the review petition and given a verdict on it. Marriyum said that the people of Pakistan had not accepted the verdict so far.
The minister giving reasons for non-acceptance of the verdict by the people said that it all started with money laundering, tax evasion, plundering of money and Panama Leaks notwithstanding the fact that the name of Nawaz Sharif was not mentioned in them.
She said that from the decision given on the review petition it had been established that it had been given in an angry mode.
Marriyum said that the SC had given six verdicts in the Panama case so far, but no case of corruption had been established against him.
She said that Nawaz Sharif had declared assets of billions of rupees therefore in regards to not declaring assets worth 10-15 thousand dirhams the judiciary should have considered his intentions. The minister said that even in the NAB references there was no evidence of any corruption.