A petition was filed in a Pakistani court on Friday seeking contempt proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his controversial comments calling a sitting judge in the country’s judiciary a “nuisance.”
Addressing a general meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which earlier this week re-elected his brother Nawaz Sharif as party leader, Shehbaz said “some miscreants in the judiciary are desperate to rescue Imran Khan, founder and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).”
“Miscreants in the judicial circles are trying to save Imran Khan from the ₹ 1900 crore case and other cases. Day by day schemes are being made on how to give bail to Khan in certain cases,” he added.
Petitioner Ashba Kamran filed the petition in the Lahore High Court on Friday alleging that the prime minister had called the judges “nuisances” in his speech.
“The Chief Minister’s remarks undermine the integrity and independence of the judiciary. His remarks amount to an attack on the judicial system and action should be taken against him under the Contempt of Court Act,” she alleged.
Justice Waheed Khan of the Lahore High Court heard the case and sought arguments from the petitioners for another hearing within two weeks.
A tug-of-war is underway between the powerful military and the judiciary after six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) wrote to Pakistan Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa asking him to take up the issue of spy agencies interfering in judicial matters to get preferred verdicts in various cases, especially those related to jailed former prime minister Khan.
The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been jailed since August last year and faces more than 200 charges.
Shehbaz also slammed Imran Khan for his scathing attacks on the Pakistan Army, saying, “The nation will not forgive the way you are vilifying Pakistan Army officers and their families.”
“The words Niazi used against military personnel in London, if anyone else had done the same, his tongue might have been cut off,” he said.
