PML-N huddle in London: Legal team greenlights Nawaz’s return

LONDON/ ISLAMABAD: A crucial meeting of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) was held here on Saturday in which the party’s legal team gave a comprehensive briefing to party supremo Nawaz Sharif in the wake of Supreme Court verdict in the NAB amendments case.

The team comprising former law minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Amjad Pervez, Advocate, and Attaullah Tarar gave Nawaz Sharif legal clearance for his homecoming.

Azam Tarar told the media after the meeting when Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan, he would face all cases in respect of the courts. He took a dig at Imran Khan saying: “Nawaz Sharif will not put a bucket on his head. He will appear in the courts smiling and he will be vindicated on merit. There is no substance in the false cases made against him.”

The former law minister said: “We will not attack courts and we will not do anything to evade the course of justice as was seen recently. There will be open hearings and the truth will be established.”

Tarar said some judges violated their oath to the Constitution and damaged Pakistan through their political leanings.

Lawyer Amjaz Pervez told the media he had won Maryam Nawaz’s Avenfield case in Islamabad High Court on merit. “From day one, we have said there is no evidence of corruption. These cases were made for political engineering and we proved it as such on record during trial. Arshad Malik’s confessional video is an example. I see no difficulty as far as law is concerned. We will have no issues in winning these cases on merit.”

Earlier, PMLN Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar said Nawaz Sharif’s planned return to Pakistan on Oct 21 would not be affected by the SC decision. He said “no case is a hindrance in his way of return to Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif’s return date remains the same. The date has been announced. He is coming back on the same date.”

Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said Nawaz Sharif was all set to land in Pakistan on October 21 and the recent SC decision in the NAB Amendment case had nothing to do with his cases.

He said cases against Nawaz Sharif were made on false grounds and were politically motivated. “There is no legal merit in the cases framed against Nawaz Sharif and he has never relied on the new NAB laws. He will be in Pakistan on Oct 21,” Shehbaz added.

He criticised the outgoing chief justice Umar Ata Bandial and said he made controversial and political decisions, which benefited Imran Khan. Bandial went out of the way to help Imran Khan and he violated his oath. “The 2-1 decision he gave is regrettable. To a great extent, he has restored a dictator’s black law. When Imran Khan changed the NAB law through a Presidential Ordinance to give an NRO to his sidekicks, where was Bandial? Why didn’t he act like this at that time? That ordinance was given for four-month time period and Imran Khan’s sponsors benefitted from that. That was a classic example of Niazi-NAB collusion,” he alleged.

He said if given a clear mandate again, Nawaz Sharif would take Pakistan’s economy to the level where it was in 2017 when he was ousted for not taking salary from his son.

Shehbaz said he and Nawaz Sharif welcomed former PTI lawmaker and opposition leader Raja Riaz into the PMLN’s fold. “We have welcomed Raja Riaz into the PMLN. For 16 months, he was leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. I hope his joining will strengthen the party.”

Raja Riaz said: “I am thankful to Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif for trusting me. The whole of Pakistan is active to welcome Nawaz Sharif and I will play my role.”

Separately, PMLN Chief Organiser and Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz said on Saturday the party had a leader, an agenda, and a team with the resolve and sincerity to serve the nation.

Addressing a meeting of organisations from Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, she was confident that the nation would accord a warm welcome to the PMLN supremo on arrival in Pakistan on October 21. She asked the people to give a full mandate to Nawaz Sharif in the upcoming polls and he would give them full relief.

“People should change political scenario by giving a mandate to Nawaz Sharif, and he will change the destiny of the nation,” Maryam stressed and added that Nawaz Sharif would guarantee prosperity and reputation of Pakistan in the region and the world. “Nawaz Sharif is the name of unity in the country, its interests, and progress,” she said, adding that Nawaz Sharif had fulfilled every promise made to the nation.