Nawaz speech attack on judiciary, says Farogh

KARACHI: Federal Law Minister Farogh Nasim Saturday said former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s speech in the PDM’s public meeting in Gujranwala was in fact an attack on the judiciary, which would not be tolerated.

Addressing the 5th judicial law conference at a local hotel, he said the people had rejected Nawaz Sharif’s Panama case narrative.

He said Nawaz Sharif’s allegation against the Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and Imran Khan was misleading, as they did not ask him to purchase properties in Avenfield, UK and did not ask him to avoid giving money trail to the court about his multibillion assets abroad.

He said the former primer was not disqualified under a martial law government but in fact he was disqualified in his own government, as he failed to give money trail and evidence about his properties abroad.

He said Nawaz Sharif’s speech was an attack on the judiciary which would not be tolerated by the government and every citizen had to respect the redlines for the judiciary and the state institutions.

The minister said the judiciary and National Accountability Bureau were independent institutions and the government had nothing to do with it.

He said the people of the country had rejected corrupt politicians.

He said the PTI government’s foremost agenda was constitutionalism and rule of the law and the federal government was striving to ensure welfare projects and protection of fundamental rights of the citizens.

He said the government had introduced amendments to the civil and criminal laws, which would help reduce delay in disposal of cases.

He said the government empowered the women ombudsman office, which would ensure fast disposal of cases of women being deprived of inheritance and other family rights.

Former chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali said the country had been witnessing lawlessness, military dictatorship and social anarchy for the last 71 years due to an incompetent leadership and non-implementation of the law.

He said the fundamental rights of citizens could not be ignored and these should be protected at all costs. He called for a joint struggle for the rule of law, removal of poverty and a better education system in the country.

Justice Jamali expressed concern over the frequent use of suo motu notice by the superior judiciary and said in several cases the aggrieved persons were not made as party to the proceedings.

He said the dream of an honest democratic system could not become true unless important state institutions — the judiciary, the executive and the legislature — worked within the parameters of the Constitution.