Threat of boycott is contempt of court: PML-N

Panama Papers case

Pervaiz Rashid says Imran won't get even a worn-out button of sherwani

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) on said on Friday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan would not get even a worn-out button of the premier’s Sherwani, let alone his resignation.

Addressing a press conference with other party leaders, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, who had resigned as Minister for Information in October over a controversy, said that Imran Khan had issued the threat of boycotting the proceedings instead of presenting a legal case before the court, which is contempt of court.

He said that the Supreme Court was a constitutional institution while Imran Khan had repeatedly disrespected parliament as well. He further said the PTI’s case was over the day its lawyers had failed to present any evidence whatsoever of corruption.

“Resignation? We’re not even ready to give Imran a broken button of the PM’s sherwani,” said Rashid. He said that after wasting seven months of the nation, Imran Khan had fled the ground. “He is bound to fail, just like Pervez Musharraf and Benazir had failed,” he said.

On the occasion, Barrister Zafarullah said that he has never seen in his career as a lawyer any party telling the court that its decision would be unacceptable. He said that Imran Khan had taken a U-turn on Friday as usual. He said that Imran had himself demanded the formation of a commission but when the court asked about it, he issued a threat instead of presenting a legal argument.

Anusha Rehman said on the occasion that Imran Khan actually wanted to stage a show on the roads. “He said there’ll be truckloads of evidence. But when his lawyers came to the court, all they had were some pointless pages downloaded from the internet and some newspaper clippings,” she said.

She added that the speeches the prime minister had made in parliament were in simpler words and were for public consumption. “His legal argument has been presented in the court. What he said in parliament was just aimed at public consumption. The detailed argument is given before the court,” she said.

Earlier, talking to the media outside the Supreme Court after the hearing of PanamaLeaks case, PML-N leader Talal Chaudhary said that now Imran Khan has taken another U-turn. First he was going to lockdown the country and demanding to make a commission over the PanamaLeaks case but now he is talking about the boycott if a commission is formed.

Anusha Rahman said that Imran Khan doesn’t trust parliament and wants to use a shortcut to become the prime minister of Pakistan. She said the PTI chairman is trying to run from the case but now we will never let him escape.

Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali said we respect the decision of the Supreme Court and are hopeful that we would get justice.

He said Naeem Bukhari, the legal counsel for the PTI, has disrespected the Supreme Court by saying that they will boycott the commission on the PanamaLeaks case. He suggested Imran Khan to take his petition back, as he doesn’t have the evidence to present in the apex court and he is just wasting the time of the court.

The minister added that the PML-N has provided solid and authentic proof with documentary evidence in the court, which unveiled the real facts. He commented that in the past, the PTI adopted the practice of putting baseless allegations on the PML-N so as to mislead the nation, which later proved false.