Law Minister Barrister Farogh Naseem has said that he did not send a message to any ministry pertaining to the transfer of judges and the notices for their transfer were issued on July 12 and August 26 while he had met the chief justice of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday [August 28].
Speaking on a television programme, he responded to the opposition’s criticism, saying they should verify their facts before giving controversial statements.
“Yes I did meet the chief justice of LHC and the chief justice of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court was also there,” he said, adding that while the meeting did take place, he has nothing to with the case against Rana Sanaullah nor is it in his jurisdiction.
He also said that no video of any judge has been sent to him neither does he have the authority to take any decision of a tape was brought before him.
Speaking about reforms to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law, he said that anyone who is not a government employee or a public office holder should be immune from NAB adjudication, adding that government employees are not ready to sign projects because they are afraid of NAB.
He further said that the government is willing to change the law of keeping someone detained for 45-90 days.
Defending Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa against the allegations of Justice Qazi Faez Isa, he said that he is an honest judge, who decides every case on merit.
Speaking about Pakistan’s efforts to curb money laundering and terror-financing, he said that the government is complying with the world’s demands in this regard. “Hafiz Saeed was not arrested to make India happy. His case will be decided as per law,” he said, adding that the government is also very serious about madrassa reforms.
Commenting on the deadlock between the government and opposition over the matter of appointing members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he said that the 18th Amendment should have clarified what the lawmakers should do in case of deadlock. “The government will now approach the court to resolve this issue,” he said.