SC was soft on Sharif family in Hudaibiya case: Aitzaz

LAHORE: Senate opposition leader, Aitzaz Ahsan said on Monday that the Sharif family was shown leniency and an easy-going attitude by the Supreme Court (SC) in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

The senator while speaking to the media outside the Lahore High Court (LHC), claimed that the apex court dealt “light-handedly with the Sharif family – a decision that was beyond his understanding”.

“Jahangir Tareen presented his money trail, Nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, did not even produce a single paper,” he said, adding, “An iqama is used to keep money in secret off-shore bank accounts. it is a much more serious crime than Panama [papers].”

Aitzaz further expressed his doubts saying that the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) appeal to re-open Hudaibiya case would weaken the people’s confidence in the courts.

“Trust is established through verdicts, not clarifications,” he said, taking a swipe at the statements of Pakistan’s chief justice on the apex court’s verdict.

CJP Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had not too long ago termed the judiciary was similar to a wise elder whose advice was sought by everyone and urged the public to stop doubting the integrity of the judiciary and criticising it for verdicts against them.

The Rs 1.2 billion Hudaibiya Paper Mills case was initiated by the NAB in 2000 but squashed by the LHC in 2014. The NAB had appealed the LHC’s decision to the SC.