ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has reacted to a news report claiming former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) pressured a judge not to release Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail before the 2018 general elections.
According to the news report, ex-chief justice of the Gilgit-Baltistan court, Dr Rana Muhammad Shamim, stated in an affidavit that he had been witness to then CJP Saqib Nisar’s directed a high court judge not to release Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail before the 2018 general elections.
In a series of tweets, the federal minister responded to The News report, saying he had read a ‘strange’ news item from senior journalist Ansar Abbasi. The minister said as per that news item, a Gilgit judge claimed that when he was having tea with former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar when the top judge instructed a High Court judge on the phone not to grant Nawaz Sharif bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections.
Fawad said bizarre jokes were being circulated in the country to prove Nawaz Sharif a victim. He asked the Sharif family to give the money trail of Avenfield apartments instead of fabricating stories.
The federal minister further said it was a ludicrous claim that a judge having tea with a phone and was issuing such instructions in front of a visitor whether to grant bail of an accused or not who was happened to be the prime minister of the country.
“Instead of fabricating silly stories and conspiracy theories, the Sharifs should provide money trail for the Avenfield Apartments, which were later given to Maryam Nawaz,” Fawad said. He added that Maryam claimed she did not own any property even in Pakistan. “Now she has to respond to billions of properties surfaced on her name.”
Rana Shamim’s statement was given under oath before the Oath Commissioner on November 10, 2021. The report claims former CJP Saqib Nisar has denied directing his subordinate judges in connection with any judicial order. The news report claims that Rana Shamim confirmed the content of the statement.
Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were convicted by an accountability court before the 2018 general elections. Their lawyers had moved court for suspension of the conviction but the case was deferred after initial hearings.
