Politician seen close to ex-COAS claims: ‘Bajwa helped Imran get NRO for Banigala house’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Special Assistant Malik Ahmad Khan has alleged that the former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had influenced the-then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar to decide Imran Khan’s Banigala residence case in his favour. In the same case, Khan was declared Sadiq and Ameen.

The former Chief Justice, when contacted, however, said it’s all rubbish, total bullshit and completely baseless. Justice (retd) Saqib Nisar insisted that he was never influenced, directly or indirectly, in his judicial work by the-then Army Chief. Saqib Nisar said that the entire Banigala was illegally built and the case he had decided on was about the regularisation of all properties there as they could not be razed to the ground.

PTI Spokesman Fawad Chaudhry, when contacted, also denied it and said that the special assistant to the PM and senior PMLN leader suggested that the Chief Justice of Pakistan was controlled by the army chief. It’s really a serious allegation, he said, and demanded the Supreme Court registrar take notice of this.

Regarding the case of regularisation of IK’s Banigala case, he said that there were no rules regulating such construction in the area when the chairman PTI built the house. He explained that the apex court in the case had directed the CDA to make rules to regulate construction in the Banigala area.

A source close to the retired army chief said that Gen (retd) Bajwa had never contacted the-then chief justice or the judiciary in this case. This source, however, alleged that a key spymaster had done the work to save Imran Khan from disqualification.

In a recent TV talk show, Malik Ahmad Khan claimed that Gen (retd) Bajwa had given an NRO to Imran Khan. When asked about the nature of the alleged NRO, he said that Imran Khan should come forward and say under oath that he had not been given the NRO in the Banigala residence case when it was being heard by the court of the-then CJP Justice (retd) Saqib Nisar.

The SAPM said that he had all the evidence about how and when it happened, who were the characters involved, and who sent messages to whom. When asked by the anchor if Malik Ahmad Khan was saying that the then army chief had influenced the-then Chief Justice of Pakistan to decide IK’s Banigala house case, the Shehbaz Sharif cabinet member said, “I stand by it, I have total evidence.” He further said that the collateral victim of this case was Jehangir Khan Tareen.

It is relevant to mention here that Malik Ahmad Khan was among those Leaguers who had been close to the retired army chief. Khan has also been occasionally meeting the-then army chief.