The government has stopped former Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Justice Rana Shamim from going abroad while his name is being prepared to be included in the exit control list. Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that strict measures will be taken against those who defame the country.
The Islamabad High Court had taken suo motu notice of the case following allegations made by former Chief Justice Rana Shamim against former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar regarding Nawaz Sharif’s conviction, after which the former Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Justice appeared in court and he has confirmed the affidavit published in the newspaper.
Former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar says that no one dared to contact me in this regard and now no one even can. His last conversation with Rana Shamim was that he did not get an extension because of Nisar, to which he told Shamim that extension is not in his hand, it belongs to the government.
In the case of Rana Shamim and Saqib Nisar, the court said that they cannot order an investigation without any ground, otherwise, everyone will bring audio tomorrow. It is true that today is the age of technology and it is common to create dubbed audio or fake video but this is a matter of credibility of courts and s far as a former Chief Justice is concerned, the judiciary and the state have to show extraordinary interest in it so that the facts can come out.
In a nutshell, the alleged audio case of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar seems to be confused instead of being resolved, while the government is not yet ready to investigate it and the Oran League has not taken it to court. Since 2017, the credibility of the judiciary has been constantly questioned.
Opposition parties have stated that Rana Shamim’s name must be included in the ECL so that Saqib Nisar can be barred from going abroad. Whatever the reality, the credibility of the judiciary has definitely been affected by this incident. The government should now take steps to bring this dispute to a logical conclusion so that a series of questions on court decisions can be closed.
