Imran getting unprecedented relief from courts: Sharjeel

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been getting unprecedented relief from courts.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said this on Saturday while addressing a press conference. He remarked that Khan was being facilitated in a manner like businesses offered ‘buy one get one’ deals.

Memon was of the view that courts went out of way to extend relief to Khan who, he said, had been spreading anarchy in the country with the assistance of foreign powers.

“On the other hand, the courts don’t have the time for the cases pertaining to the architect of Pakistan’s constitution and atomic programme, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the visionary leader behind Pakistan’s missile programme, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,” he said.

He told the media that the judicial reference filed to review the case pertaining to the hanging of Bhutto had been pending for the past 10 years, and similarly, the hearing of the case pertaining to the killing of Benazir had been adjourned by the courts for an indefinite period.

The information minister, however, clarified that the Pakistan Peoples Party did not want any relief from the courts as it merely desired dispensation of justice by the judiciary.

“We will accept whatever would be the judgement in these two cases [regarding Bhutto and Benazir] but it is important that their hearing should be conducted on a daily basis,” he said.

He also lamented that policemen in Lahore had to face brute violence even though they had been merely complying with the court directives.

He alleged that PTI activists at Zaman Park had used sticks, slingshots and Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) against the police personnel. Over 50 police personnel sustained injuries as the supporters of Imran had no regard for the law enforcement personnel, Memon added.

“Imran Khan has given the message to Pakistanis that he is the biggest gangster in the country,” he said, adding that the PTI chairman thought that nobody in the country had the power to summon him as per the law of the land and constitution.

The provincial minister remarked that utterly bad precedents had been set in the country owing to the unlawful conduct of Khan. “The message given to the world outside is that Pakistan is a lawless land,” he said.

He was of the view that Imran Khan had created a dramatic situation and had taken the entire state hostage out of his fear of imprisonment. “The country has earned a bad name because of this situation.”

Memon told the media that merely two cases pending with the judiciary were important for the PPP, which related to the hanging of Bhutto and killing of Benazir.

“The cases pertaining to two former prime ministers are being dealt with in such a sorrowful manner and on the other hand, a person who has ruined politics, economy and moral values in the country in the negation of the Constitution is being extended extraordinary relief,” he said.