Gilani terms IHC verdict ‘poetic justice’

LAHORE: Former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has termed the relief given to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the Islamabad High Court ‘poetic justice’ and stated that the former PM got the right he deserved.

However, other PPP senior leaders while expressing their views over the IHC judgment stated that it was quite expected because Nawaz, unlike PPP leaders Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, had also got relief in the past. The PPP leadership also stated that the failure of NAB prosecutors in presenting the case before the court was quite obvious. Gilani, who himself spent years in the captivity of the National Accountability Bureau in the era of former president Pervez Musharraf, talking to The News, said while he was the prime minister, he never used NAB as a weapon to victimize anybody. Rather, he said he himself isolated this body with the authorities of a PM and put it under the minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

“I am happy over the verdict because Nawaz Sharif and his family have recently undergone a very painful moment and believe that Nawaz in the judgment has received what he deserved” said Gilani who so far has been the longest serving PM in the history of Pakistan. Gilani himself had to go home through a court verdict in 2012 for not writing a letter to Swiss government to reopen cases against the then president Asif Ali Zardari.

Moreover, other PPP leaders while talking to The News termed the IHC judgment expected due to the weak cases prepared by the NAB against Nawaz. Former Senate chairman and PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bokhari said what had been discussed in media regarding this court wasn’t relevant. What actually had been relevant was the record of the trial court, adding that it wasn’t a final decision because suspension of sentence couldn’t be termed acquittal.

Nayyar Bokhari also stated that the failure of NAB prosecutors in presenting the case was obvious, adding that the court decides in accordance with the material that is laid before it. The former Senate chairman expressed sympathy with the Sharif family and stated that it had been under a very testing phase after the death of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

Nafisa Shah, senior parliamentarian and central secretary information of PPP, said the IHC verdict was expected while keeping in view the weak nature of the NAB court decision. She said this development also raised questions concerning the processes of accountability in Pakistan and whether there was some politics behind these decisions or not, the upcoming time would prove. She said in future, questions could be raised over the timing of the verdict that came at a time when the prime minister of Pakistan was on a visit to Saudi Arabia.

She said Nawaz Sharif, like in the past, had once again got relief from the court, but, unfortunately, the same norms of justice had not been followed for the PPP whose two leaders, both prime ministers, were eliminated, either through judicial murder or through assassination and their party was still awaiting justice. However, she said the legal process was still not completed and there were more steps to follow. President PPP Central Punjab Qamar Zaman Kaira, in a statement, said it was expected. He said Nawaz Sharif had always been provided relief and got it once again, adding that the detailed judgment would point out on what grounds his sentence had been suspended.

Aurangzeb Barki hailed the IHC decision and stated that it was a good sign for the Sharif family that recently passed through a very disturbing phase.