From the truth of the draft reference to multiple denials

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s latest statement about having been approached as prime minister in 2017 by “credible intermediaries” of judges at the highest level of the judiciary to file a reference for misconduct against then Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar before the Supreme Judicial Council has raised many questions.

Who was (or were) the judge(s), who allegedly approached the government to oust Saqib Nisar? On whose direction did the government prepare a draft reference which was later aborted? Who prepared the draft reference and who was (or were) the ‘intermediaries’?

This correspondent had background discussions with various relevant players and it was revealed that the PMLN primarily accused one Supreme Court judge, now retired, of sending a message to the then government to initiate the move against Saqib Nisar.

It is alleged that the said judge through a senior legal mind of the PMLN government had asked the government to file a reference of misconduct for illegal interference in government work against Saqib Nisar. It is claimed by PMLN sources that it was also allegedly conveyed by the judge that Saqib Nisar could not sit in the SJC in case of a reference against him.

This correspondent is also aware of the judge’s name, which is not being printed here because the newspaper could not obtain his view on the entire matter. A close relative of the judge, when approached to get the judge's view on the issue, denied the conspiracy associated with the judge.

The close relative said that the judge was not and will never be mendacious or an intriguer. “He had written an article (published in the PLD) maintaining that no reference can be filed before the SJC against a CJP because he is the head and an irreplaceable part of the SJC,” added the close relative.

The News also approached former CJP Saqib Nisar, who said that neither was he aware of what was being plotted against him by the government nor did he know anything about any intrigues at the highest levels of the judiciary against him.

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while responding to The News story ‘Nawaz wanted to remove Saqib Nisar’ published on Sunday, revealed that he was approached in late 2017, during his tenure as prime minister, by “credible intermediaries of judges at the highest level of the judiciary.” They wanted the government to file a reference for misconduct against the Chief Justice of Pakistan before the Supreme Judicial Council. He added that it was clear to him that this reference, regardless of its merits, was based on personal gain and represented an unprecedented level of intrigue at the highest echelons of the judiciary.

Abbasi, however, did not disclose who the “credible intermediaries” were or the identity of the judges. He also did not reveal who it was in the PML-N or the government who had asked for the reference to be prepared. Sources say that two key legal minds of the then government, not including the one who was said to have conveyed the alleged message of the judge, were assigned to prepare the reference.

This correspondent talked to all the three legal minds of the then PMLN government and all of them denied the alleged role being attributed to them by those who matter in the PMLN. One of them said no message was conveyed by the judge through him while the other two distanced themselves from the preparation of the draft reference, which was later trashed.

Abbasi said, “I also consulted former prime minister and President PMLN Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and it was decided that our government would not file any such reference; the matter ended there.”

Former Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf, who was approached by The News a few days earlier, had confirmed that the reference was prepared and said that Nawaz Sharif was misguided by some elements within the PML-N government. He did not name those elements but had said that the decision was shelved after he expressed his reservations to the then Prime Minister Abbasi.