Nawaz wanted to remove ex-CJP Saqib Nisar

ISLAMABAD: The PML-N government was all set to remove the then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar after Nawaz Sharif’s removal and disqualification but the decision was aborted at the eleventh hour.

The draft reference for the Supreme Judicial Council was prepared during the tenure of the previous government. It was sent to the then Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who even took it to the then president. But it was later decided to kill the proposal.

Only a few in the PML-N government knew about the plan even though, sources say, CJP Saqib Nisar had got a hint of what was cooking against him.

Sources say that former prime minister and the PML-N’s top leader Nawaz Sharif wanted the removal of Saqib Nisar after Nawaz was disqualified and removed from the office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. His successor, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, later spoke to Nawaz Sharif and convinced him to drop the idea.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was not convinced of the wisdom of the action and neither was the then Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf. Sources say that Prime Minister Abbasi personally went to the president along with the draft reference copy. The plan was shocking for the president as well, as he was also not inclined to initiate Supreme Judicial Council proceedings against Saqib Nisar.

Ausaf, when approached by The News, confirmed the story and said that Mian Nawaz Sharif had been misguided by some elements within the PML-N government. He did not name those elements but said that the decision was changed after he expressed his reservations to the then Prime Minister Abbasi.

Ausaf said that it was either the end of 2017 or early 2018 when he was called by Prime Minister Abbasi to his office. When he met the premier, he recalled, Abbasi shared with him a copy of the draft reference against the chief justice and invited him to read it.

He said that he opted not to read it and advised the prime minister not to move the reference. The premier, he said, agreed with him after hearing his point of view.

Ashtar Ausaf said that he explained to the prime minister that such a reference could not be entertained because of the apex court’s decisions and owing to the fact that the Supreme Judicial Council is headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan himself and could not be led by anyone else.

Apart from the legal hindrances, Ausaf said that he had also told the prime minister that in case the government decided to file the presidential reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan the move would not be welcomed by political and legal circles and might cause great embarrassment to the government and the PML-N.

Ausaf said that he had also asked the premier if those who had drafted the reference would stand in the witness box to press and prove the allegations levelled against the CJP. Being the attorney general, he was the one who would have to lead the prosecution.

Ashtar Ausaf said that the prime minister agreed with his views. Subsequently, the reference was never moved and was killed without making it part of the official record.

Credible sources say that Mian Nawaz Sharif was advised by some Leaguers, including a minister, to get Saqib Nisar removed by moving a reference to the SJC against the CJP. Nawaz Sharif was given the impression that in case the reference was moved against Nisar, someone important in the then SJC would be helpful in getting the CJP sacked.

These sources say that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi approached Nawaz Sharif and convinced him to drop the idea. Nawaz agreed and the draft reference was trashed before it could become a formal official document.